Annaliese
by writergirl89
Summary: Josh brings new friend, Anna, to dinner. Aidan is immedaitely enamored. 'Nough said. Rated M for a reason. Will bring strong lemons later.
1. Annaliese

**Title:** Annaliese

**Author:** WriterGirl89 (duh!)

**Spoilers:** 1-6 referenced

**Fandom:** BH U.S.

**POV:** Third-person

**Pairing(s):** Aidan/Anna (my own creation), Josh/Nora (aren't they cute?), platonic Josh/Anna/Sally, & of course Josh/Aidan bromance (apologies for _that_ word) sprinkled with Sally/Aidan frienship obviously

**Summary:** Josh brings a new friend over to the house. Although leery after finding out she's also a werewolf, Aidan soon finds himself charmed by his roommate's new pal.

**Author's Note:** Welcome back! I know you guys love my Aidan/Sally stuff but, wanted to try something new. Just came up with this idea of Aidan actually falling for a female newly turned werewolf (sounds hot, no?). I hope you guys like it (don't hurt me if you don't).

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing except for the character of Annaliese 'Anna' Taggerty, obviously.

...

"I'm bringing someone over for dinner tonight."

Aidan and Sally just stared, both eyebrows raised, at their friend. Josh was smiling from ear to ear and his round, hazel eyes shone brightly as he beamed. He seemed positively giddy with the news he was presenting them with.

Aftering a moment of silence, Aidan countered flatly. "Who's the lucky guy?" Making the ghost next to him snicker quietly as Josh continued grinning, nonplussed.

"Actually she-"

Sally interrupted sharply. "Wait, wait. 'She'? Your bringing a girl over... again? Man, your fast working. Whatever happened to 'Dr. McCleavage' you brought over last week?"

Aidan chuckled as Josh turned seven shades of red and put his hands on his hips haughtily. "For your imformation Casper, Nora and I are doing just fine." He smiled smugly at Sally's slight look of indignation. "In fact, she was the one who introduced me to Anna-"

This time, it was Aidan's turn, apparently. "Anna?"

"Jeez, will you stop interrupting me? Yes! Anna. Her name's Anna. Or Annaliese rather." He nodded to himself. "But, she prefers Anna."

Another moment of pause.

"So, ah... what time is she coming over?" Sally asked brightly.

If it was even possible, Josh smiled wider.

...

Aidan cursed under his breath (figuratively, of course) as he slipped on a fresh black sweater over his torso.

Josh had been driving him crazy over everything about this dinner. He really, really wanted everything little thing perfect. The house, the food, even Aidan's own appearance. Which weirded him out because he'd never gotten any complaints before.

_Wow... this girl must be something._

He'd tried pushing for details on their dinner guest but, everytime he would ask Josh would brush him off and tell him he would know everything as soon as she arrived. He had given him _some_ details; though not enough to write a book about.

And those details were:

1. Her name was Anna Taggerty.

2. She'd been a patient at the hospital and had been treated by Josh's new girlfriend. And he had been doing his 'orderly duties' and had percured the bloody bed sheets she had come in on because her injuries were _that _severe.

3. There wasn't and will never be any sexual or romantic involvement with her and Josh. He'd made sure to point that out to avoid teasing and nit-picking at dinnertime.

4._ "Aidan, please keep an open mind."_ What the hell did that even mean?

Again, not enough to write a book about.

He ran a hand through his dark hair before heading downstairs.

He was just on the last step when he heard a knock at the door. But, before he could within 2 feet towards the door Josh had nearly body slammed him to get to it first. "No, no. I got it."

_Thank god for vampire reflexes._

He followed his friend to the door and was nearly startled as Josh suddenly whirled around on him.

"This is her." He stated, looking Aidan in the eye.

"Yeah. I got that-"

"She's my friend. A very important friend. And I want you to be nice to her. She's ah, been through some stuff. Just... please be nice." He finished seriously, a pleading look in his eye.

Aidan almost wanted to make a glib remark but, the begging expression on his friend's face stopped him. This girl _really_ was something.

"Okay." He replied with equel seriousness, nodding.

"Alright." Josh's face relaxed into a smile as he went for the door handle before turning again. "And Aidan, please keep-"

"Keep an open mind." He was slowly starting to get anxious himself. Josh's earlier protective expression now really made him curious to meet this new friend of his. "I got it. Now will you please open the door?"

Josh paused a minute, peering into the vampire's face before turning and opening the door.

And there stood their guest.

She looked young. Maybe even a little younger then Josh. Not teenager young just... young. Her face was both child-like and womanly. She had nice, high cheekbones with flawless, porcelain skin. Her nicely shaped pink lips were full and smiling, revealing dazzling white teeth. Dark, chestnut locks hung over her shoulders. And her big, doe-eyes were beautifully blue and accentuated by a fringe of thick, dark lashes that fluttered soo invitingly.

And of course, Aidan had to notice how small she was. Not super petite, but just... deliciously diminutive. Although he's had his share of many different women, his favorite preference was always women that were shorter than him. He didn't know if it was because he was one inch over 6 feet or what but, a woman who's weight he could easily manipulate really,_ really_ did it for him.

And curvy, too. The buttoned up, _slightly _modest dress she wore accentuated the positives, as it were and was both loose and clung to her appealingly. He could make out broad hips and almost groaned as he saw the teasing bit of cleavage being offered unknowingly to his exploring gaze. He peaked to the bottom of the dress and the knee-hitting length gave him an appreciative view of her shapely legs.

It wasn't much he was seeing because of the modesty of her dress but, it was enough to make his mind wander. He was already picturing her naked and he had a _great_ imagination.

"Aidan!"

Josh's voice made him wake up and he snapped back to reality as their guest's smile turned to him. And right then, he knew that if his heart still beat, it would have stopped.

_God, she's gorgeous._

"Hi." Her voice was cheerful and full of sunshine. "You must be Aidan." She stepped inside the house and stuck a hand out.

Still out of sorts by the immediate desire to fuck this woman he didn't know on every surface of his home, he straightened and took the offered, petite hand in his much larger one and shook it, her warmth engulfing him.

"Anna, this is Aidan, my roommate. Aidan this is Anna, my new buddy." And as he said this, he put a firm hand on her shoulders and she smiled warmly at him as he grinned at her.

Aidan felt slight jealousy thrum through him at the obvious bond between the two.

But, luckliy for him, that's all he felt. A closer than close, completely platonic bond.

He felt no better as Anna let go of his hand and moved with Josh out of the foyer.

"This is my house. Aidan and I live here with..." Sally misted in front of them. "Sally."

The girl looked slightly startled before grinning beatifically. "Hi!"

Sally looked like she was gonna cry tears of joy. "Yes! Finally an actual girl friend I could hang with!" She exclaimed happily.

It finally hit Aidan. She smelled familiar... oddly. Earthy. Woodsy. Almost like...

"So, Josh tells me your a werewolf." Sally said casually.

_Ah, well, that's just..._

The girl paled significantly before looking down shyly and looking back up again, looking aroung embarrassed. "Well, that didn't take long. You weren't kidding about her, Josh."

She smiled at the lighter-haired man before turning again to the ghost. "I'm Anna. I'd shake your hand but, I know your-"

"Oh, no, it's okay. It's fine." Sally shrugged before bouncing happily to the couch and sitting there, waving Anna over. "Come on. I haven't had a female friend in seven months."

Looking at Josh, as if for comfirmation, he nodded and she went and sat down next to Sally.

"I'll leave you to it then."

Aidan followed him into the kitchen, bristling with questions.

...

**A/N: Hey guys! I really hope you guys liked my introductory chapter and my original character of Anna (Aidan seemed to like her, right?).**

**You know I love me some feedback!**


	2. Anyone Like You

_I'm back, bitches! With chapter 2 of my new story. Said chapter has the actual dinner between Josh, Aidan, Sally, and our little newbie, Anna of course. We will hear about Anna's background as well as her attack and I'm hoping you guys will be impressed by it. And if not, I am sorry._

_And for those of you wanting to know, I have no idea how many chapters this story will be. I just know I wanted to write a multi-chapter thing with this fic. I wanted a progression of sorts with Aidan and Anna. With the exception of his friendship with Josh, he doesn't seem to part from the 'werewolf-hating vampire' mold. So, here he will be just a tad snippy, maybe a little rude. But, this is only because he has just found out she is a werewolf. Once he's heard her sob-story, he'll soften his tune a little bit but, it'll still take some getting used to for him. And he also has a bone of contention with Josh for telling Sally about Anna and not him._

_Remember, I own nothing._

...

"You do realize you can't actually burn a hole in my head even when you stare too hard, right?"

Josh turned from getting the lasagna from the oven and yup, Aidan was still staring at him. And staring hard, too. That cro-magnom brow of his getting a work-out.

Once he'd stepped away from the living room to get their dinner, his vampire friend had followed, maybe to drop a thousands questions a second about their new houseguest. But, none came.

Except one.

_"Why'd you tell Sally and not me?"_

It had been asked with such accusation that Josh had no idea what to say.

And he still didn't.

Truthfully, it never occured to him as to why he decided to keep this vital piece of information from his friend. Despite Aidan's own propencity for keeping things from him, Josh had less reasons to keep anything from him. He didn't have centuries upon centuries of bloodshed to keep from those around him. He didn't have to struggle to keep from killing everyone he walked by day after day because he could hear their blood rushing through their veins. He also didn't have to pretend to be so normal, really.

Aside from turning into a monster once a month, he had it pretty normal. He could still eat human food. He didn't struggle to keep murderous urges at bay everyday. And he didn't have years of experience, either. He'd only been a werewolf two years.

Maybe he kept it from Aidan because he had the ability to scare his new friend once he found out what she was.

"You still haven't answered my question." The dark-haired vampire muttered darkly.

Josh risked another glance at him before deciding on honesty. "Okay." Tossing his oven mitts on the stove, he turned to his brooding friend. "Okay. You wanna know why I kept it from you?"

Aidan only nodded with an 'obviously' expression on his pale face.

"Because you can scare her."

The seriousness in his voice and on his face made it clear to Aidan he wasn't kidding.

His buddy's face darkened a smidge. "What the hell does that mean?" He questioned angrily.

Stepping near him, Josh tried placating him. "Aidan... buddy. I don't mean your always scary but, what I mean is that she... Anna's shy. She's also been through a lot these past few weeks. And I don't want your werewolf prejudice getting in the way of me getting an actual friend who's-"

"Like you." Aidan finished for him quietly.

"Yeah. She's not Ray. She has only been turned a 2 maybe three weeks." His expression turned thoughtful. "When I saw her at the hospital. I just knew she'd been attacked by some... beast. A beast who'd just taken her normal life away from her. I talked to her and eventually she opened up and told me she was attacked by somthing while she was camping. Just like-" He paused, exhaling. "Just like me."

He moved to grab the tray of lasagna and place it on the table. Arranging the silverware near their plates, he continued, with some conviction. "Now... now she'll have something I didn't have. I mean I met Ray but,..."

He gestured oddly at his friend, chuckling. "You know how that went." Turning back to his task, he went on. "Anyway, my point is she'll have someone who knows what she's going through. Someone who gets it. And she's a good person who didn't deserved this. And I'm gonna help her through it. If I do one of many good deeds in my life, that'll be one of them."

He looked meaningfully at his abnormally quiet friend and nodded silently before heading past him, clapping a hand on his shoulder and heading into their living space.

...

Dinner had gone surprisingly well.

Anna had been reasonably nervous on the way over. It had taken several calming breaths to steal herself from telling her taxi driver to turn back to her apartment.

Lotta good that did.

She had been still trembling with nerves when Josh had answered the door with his dark-haired friend.

It had taken every ounce of possible brain power to keep from gawking at the handsome stranger next to her new friend. She distracted herself, instead, with greeting Josh before he called attention to the man next to him.

She'd turned in the direction of Josh's friend only to find herself on the recieving end of a dark, deeply probing stare.

_Oh, boy._

Now, she was quite inexperienced when it came to well... the entire male population. She hadn't known her father and the multitude of foster homes she had been raised in were scattered with girls. And her last and very stern foster mother had made it clear her position on dating (meaning she spent all her high school years studying and avoiding the eye of any boys she even thought she liked) and silently prayed she would the necessary grades to be shipped off to some fancy college who will have her... just get away from her control freak of a foster mother.

She did. And Anna had almost cried tears of joy when she had gotten an exception letter from Emerson College.

It had taken some wrangling but, she finally get even funds to pay for school and a small, nice apartment near campus.

And now this.

When she was asked by a group of fellow students to go on an impromptu camping trip, Anna had almost said no. But, her damn incessant need to socialize like freaking normal people drove her to say yes.

She'd been sleeping inside her tent when she heard the screaming. The next thing she remembered was waking up in a hospital bed with a concussion and a bandaged... well, everything.

Anna was later told that all the people she had camping with had been massacred and that she was the lone survivor.

She cried. Cried til her throat was hoarse, in fact.

Anna had fallen asleep from her breakdown when she had started to feel like she was being watched. When she'd opened her eyes, there was a man standing against a wall.

He was built. Kinda tall. He had light brown hair and big, round hazel eyes that looked almost apologetically at her. He was cute. In a doe-eyed man-child way. And judging by the different colored scrubs, a cetain color she'd only seen on a couple of people, he was an orderly.

Josh.

After he had introduced himself, she'd felt compelled to do that back. And then the magic words...

_"I know what happened to you."_

Anna had been a little freaked out before he calmed her by saying the same thing happened to him.

Those words had caught her attention and soon, he was spilling about his own camping trip two years earlier.

His dead friend.

The gruesome shoulder wound.

And everything after that.

By the time he was finished, she had wanted to ask if he was crazy. No, she wanted to_ tell_ him he was crazy.

But, the serious, somber expression on his face told her he was telling the dreaded truth.

She had cried again. And soon found herself hugging this stranger before asking in a choked voice.

_"Am I gonna be a monster?"_

And his answer made her wanna die.

_"Yes."_

Josh had kept visiting her until she was released. Then had asked if she wanted to come to dinner at his house to meet his way more abnormal friends, who happened to be a vampire and a ghost.

Again, she thought he was being funny. And _again_, nothing in the tell.

And here she was.

'Here' meaning she was having a very lovely dinner in a nice brownstone being eyeballed really intensely by the most handsome man she'd ever seen (who happened to be a damn vampire) while having a game of '20 questions' with an extremely curious ghost.

_Ladies and gentlemen, this is now my life._

...

"So, Anna..."

Aidan hid a smirk as the small brunette jumped a little by his voice in the seemingly silent kitchen.

Josh had gone off to grab some ice cream he'd forgotten earlier (the dork!) for dessert. Although, Aidan had a sneaking suspicion that he had left so abruptly to let his new friend get better acquianted with him.

That would also explain Sally's sudden decision to hang out with that new poltergiest friend she'd met a few weeks back.

Leaving Aidan alone with Anna. The gorgeous she-wolf.

Great.

Well, no better time like the present.

Saddling up next to her, he looked down at her washing a dish. "You know, you don't have to do that." He offered gently as an opening to conversation.

She spared him a small smile on her beautiful face, chuckling as she continued her task. "It's fine. It's the least I can do."

As soon as she wiped the dish and put it away, he moved swiftly behind her. Not touching her. Just the barest hint of his weight on her back.

It was enough to make her freeze, though.

"So..." He pressed closer to her, moving his arms onto the counter in front of her, trapping her. "I guess I'll be seeing around you then."

He kept a low tenor to his voice as he talked near her ear. "I'm really looking forward to that."

Planting his hands on her arms, he turned her slowly to face him.

Her blue eyes were wide but, her voice dripped with nerves and sarcasm. "Are you?"

"Huh-huh." He responded as he slowly pivoted forward slowly. Predatorily.

"I've never met anyone quite like you." He whispered meaningfully as he stared into her gaze.

"But, I thought Josh was a werewolf." Her voice was shakey. Unsteady.

_He was already getting to her._

He smiled sexily. "No. That's not what I meant."

He was just about to close the distance between them when...

"Guys! I'm back!"

_Dammit Josh!_

...

**A/N: Well, what'd you think? I hope you liked this chapter. I thought long and hard about this one and I just wanted to give Aidan some sexy time with Anna. Hope you loved!**

**Please review!**


	3. Full Moon

_Hey guys, I 'm back again! I'm really happy about the feedback I've gotten so far in this story. I like everyone's reaction to my chracter of Anna and her friendship with Josh as well as her and Aidan's attraction to one another. I know some might question why I had Aidan come on so strong in the last chapter and I'll clear it up for you. Here are a list of things that'll help:_

**_1. Anna has extreme inexperience with men- familial and otherwise. So, her friendship with Josh and attraction to Aidan is new to her._**

**_2. Anna is a virgin (yup! I went there)._**

**_3. Aidan doesn't know all this yet but, he will soon enough._**

**_4. While, Aidan is almost immediately drawn intensely to Anna, her side of things is more a 'smitten/physical attraction' thing and there are no feelings of substance. At least not yet._**

**_5. Aidan is over 200-years-old so, he feels he can do or say whatever the fuck he wants (but, in the case he's wrong). I would think that, too, if I was his age._**

_So, I hope that clears things up for you._

_I own nothing (look Aidan... I've got a million bucks, wanna be my friend?)._

...

Anna sighed as she entered her apartment. She'd taken an early, early morning class and been running late and as a result missed her morning coffee, making her hell to deal with in class.

Though the next thought that struck her mind made her almost thankful she hadn't had caffeine in her system.

_Tonight's the full moon._

She had already called Josh on the way back home to set the time of their meeting in the woods to change together. Her first ever wolf transformation.

She shuddered just thinking about it.

Of course who wouldn't freak out a little inside knowing they were gonna sprout claws and fangs. Grow hair in places that _shouldn't_ have hair. Oh and don't forget, _maybe_ maul a deer on the way home.

Yes. Let's not forget that.

Couldn't been worse though. She could have been alone.

But, she had Josh. And that was more than enough.

Moving closer into her home, Anna caught something. Caught the scent of something to be specific.

Heightened senses.

Josh had explained the effects of being... what they were. Including the damn heightened freakin' senses.

Twitching her nose slight (that must look attractive!), she caught onto the fact that she was smelling cooking food. Pot roast. As in her _downstairs _neighbor's goddamn pot roast.

_God, this is too weird._

Josh had said that their senses would go even more bonkers before and after a full moon. And she was feeling the brunt of it. Smelling that god-aweful pot roast.

Mrs. Wakowski was a nice woman but, she couldn't cook to save her life.

Locking her door behind her, Anna placed her keys in the keybowl before hanging up her jacket, feeling a slight vibration near her arm telling her her phone was ringing in one of the pockets.

Grabbing her phone, she looked at the caller I.D.

_Unknown caller._

Well, that's odd. She didn't have a lot of friends. Even before her 'little problem', she had made no effort (except for that distaterous camping trip) to make friends or socialize in any way. Except for the 5 people she knew in her study group. And she had _all_ their phone numbers. Her only other friend was Josh but, he was already saved on her speed dial.

Popping open her phone, she put it to her ear as she moved to her kitchenette. "Hello?"

_"Hi, Anna."_ The deep, very male, slightly familiar voice on the other end of the line made her freeze a little in her steps.

Aidan. Aidan the gorgeous vampire.

Aidan, the same guy who'd almost kissed her 4 nights ago.

Yup. That guy.

After he had intruded into her personal space and almost planted one on her (getting interrupted by Josh), they had steered clear from each other the rest of the night. At least she did. Although it wasn't as blatant as when they had been alone, Aidan was quite ah,... persistent. Being slick about it, he made every move to stay close to her through out the night. When she sat at the couch, he was right there next to her or next to Sally, who thankfully misted between them, continuing her chat fest from earlier.

And if he wasn't close to her, he was _staring_ at her.

Although he didn't say anything, she had a small inkling that Josh knew of his friend's attention on her. Attention she'd never been on the recieving end of.

_"Anna? You still there?"_

Her caller's voice snapped her back to reality.

"Yup. I'm still here." She answered while starting to search her upboards for a suitable snack. "So... what, pray tell, is the purpose of this unexpected call?"

Grabbing a bag of chips, she walked over and plopped down on her couch.

_"Oh come on, I wouldn't say it was completely unexpected."_ His voice cooed into her ear. _"What makes you think I didn't call just to hear your sexy voice?" _

_Is he flirting with me?_

_Oh my god, he is._

"Okay. Does this bold streak come from 200 years of living or..."

_"How do you know I'm not telling the truth?"_ His voice was low and yummy, vibrating in her ears.

She almost choked on a chip as a breathy laugh escaped her at his words.

Clearing her throat, she answered definitively. "Because you barely know me." She went to her fridge and got a water bottle.

Taking a slip, she sat back down on her couch. "And I'm not even remotely sexy."

There was a pause on the other end. A long pause before he said. _"You sell yourself too short, Anna."_ His voice was softer, almost soulful.

_Well, what the fuck does that mean?_

She could only sigh in response. "Doesn't make it any less true." Deciding to switch subjects because this was getting uncomfortable now. "Is there a point to this call, Aidan?"

_"I like the way you say my name."_ She could feel the growl in his voice all the way down to her toes.

Oh, she is so not gonna go there. "I'm hanging up now." She stated flatly.

_"Alright fine. Josh told me to call you to let you know to meet him at 5:30 at the house and that I will be your driver tomorrow to take you home because it is my day off."_ He almost sounded bored as he said this. Almost.

"Why couldn't Josh call and tell me this?"

_"The hell if I know. He just wanted me to pass the message on." _

"Is that it?" Anna knew she sounded snippy but, she was past caring at this point.

_"Yes."_ He sounded put off because she wanted to hang up soo quickly.

"Okay. Bye."

Before he could say anything, she hung up.

Looking at her clock, she saw it was already 4:00 and went about packing the essentials Josh had listed for her to pack.

...

Aidan glared down at his phone as he hung up.

That didn't go half as well as he had expected. He had to give it to her though. She was fighting. And fighting hard, too. That little show of will power only made him want her more now.

He had lied about the reason he had called Anna. Josh hadn't told him to call, rather it was the other way around, really.

When Josh had earlier mentioned going to call her, Aidan had insisted that he do it as a nice favor to his friend.

Of course, although he'd give his right arm to help Josh, that was crap. He simply wanted an excuse to talk to her.

She didn't seem as enthusiastic to talk to him but, he wasn't about to let that deter him.

He was known to be quite tenacious. And it had almost always worked out in the end.

_Oh, Anna Taggerty, you are in trouble now._

...

**A/N: Well, there you go. I hope you guys liked my little phone interlude between our number one pairing Aidan & Anna (although, this is also about other relationships as well, they are the main couple). And yeah, Anna may be inexperienced but, she's also proudly a wise-ass. Pround, I tell you!**

**Please review! **


	4. Morning After

_Boy, I am on a roll, aren't I? Welcome back to 'Annaliese', my newest story and original character, respectively. Last chapter was more Anna-centric as well focusing on her phoned interaction with Aidan, who is soo obviously hot for her. Now, this chapter will focus her and Josh's still nascant friendship as they prepare for the moon together. Although, if you haven't noticed, there will always be a part involving Aidan somewhere near the end. And I am hoping I'll think of some Sally/Aidan interaction._

_P.S. I am loving you guys' reaction to my story._

_P.S.S. I seriously do not own nothing!_

...

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" Anna grumbled as she almost tripped on a branch, following behind Josh.

After meeting at Josh's place (Aidan had been, luckily, absent), they had gone on their treck to the woods to their spot to transform for the night.

Anna, like Josh had instructed, packed the 'essentials', as it were: Wet wipes, water bottle, some snacks, her cellphone, and of course, a change of clothes. She had questioned where he had learned all this and had gotten only a grunt in return. Whatever, if he wanted to talk about it, he would in his own time.

"Of course, I know where we're going princess, just be patient." He talked over his shoulder at her before walking faster down the path they'd been on for the last 20 minutes, making Anna speed up behind him, nearly tripping again as she jogged clumsily to catch up.

When she had questioned why they had to go so damn far into the woods, he told her that the 'farther they were from civilization, the better'.

Of course. That made sense.

Still, it didn't quell the horror in Anna's gut that she might accidently stumble onto some poor campers after the change and do to them what had been done to the people she'd had been with those weeks ago.

"Here we are."

Josh had stopped and she saw it was in front of a small, wooden cabin.

She followed Josh up the hill like mound that held their shelter and then inside the rickety structure.

"So, this is it, then?" She stated with a question in her voice, taking off her jacket as Josh did the same and placed their bags on a small table in the middle of the cabin.

"Yup. Welcome to the place you'll be spending your nights once a month."

Anna rocked on her heels, studying her surroundings. "Yeah, well, it's... quite something. It's just-"

"It's shitty, huh?" Without turning around, she could just hear the smile in her friend's voice.

Still gazing around, she countered non-sarcastically. "I was going for homely. But, that works too."

"Well, next time we'll try the hospital." She turned to see him taking out a bag of what looked like raw meat. "What the hell is that?"

"Bait for our wolves. I'll just... circle around the cabin and when we turn, we'll just follow the scent."

"So, we're gonna be walking around in circles then?"

Josh nodded almost bashfully. "Yeah, pretty much. It sounds silly, I know but, believe me it's for our own good."

He started for the door. "I'll be right back."

It was maybe 5 minutes before he got back.

"Josh, how do we do this?"

She was sitting in a corner and Josh sat down beside her.

"We ah,... we wait."

"We wait?"

"We wait." He answered matter-of-a-factly.

They just sat there until it started getting dark then Anna felt something. Something dark, primal grow within her, then the pain started. Horrible searing pain.

Then she blacked out.

...

Josh woke that morning feeling, as per usual, like shit.

His body ached and he felt the tell-tale signs of a migraine. Looking around, he realized he was outside the cabin, covered in dirt. PIcking himself up, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't been alone the night before.

Anna.

Forgetting his naked state for the moment, he sniffed around immediately picking up her different, feminine scent with the obvious overtones of her wolf in the air

Following the trail, he spotted her curled up, down the mound.

Rushing into the cabin, he put on pants before heading down and gathering her into his arms, minding her own nudity.

He headed back into the cabin. He grabbed a blanket he packed and gathered around her unconscious trembling form and laying her head on a pillow he had brought.

Grabbing her bag, he pulled out her wet wipes and went about cleaning her sleeping face. He didn't want to wake up to him cleaning up her entire naked body, no matter how well-intentioned he was.

Seeing that she was comfortable, Josh then went about cleaning himself and gathering his own clothes to change.

...

Aidan tapped his fingers against his steering wheel. Looking at his watch, he realized Josh and his new friend were ten minutes late.

He was just about to call Josh when he heard the tap at his window.

Josh was there, dressed and clean-looking, which Aidan liked because there was only so much dirt he wanted in his car.

Unlocking the passenger seat door, his best friend opened it and plopped down into the seat.

"How was your night?" He asked as he usually did these mornings.

"It was there." Josh shrugged, putting on his seatbelt.

Aidan heard the back seat door open and close and looked up into the mirror just in time to see their new morning company slide into his car.

The scent of freshly applied perfume and wolf wafted up his nostrils. Normally, you'd think not an ideal combination but, with her, he could make a goddamn exception, thank you.

He silently stared at her through his mirror til she felt his gaze and met it briefly before looking away quickly.

Masking a smirk, he started his car.

No matter, he still had to drive her home. He could make her talk to him then.

...

**A/N: Hope you liked it. I wasn't too pleased with their transformation scene but, I wasn't sure how to go about it so, I implied what happened more than anything else. I know. I suck!**

**Please, please send me some feedback!**


	5. Please Don'tNot Alone

_Hidy ho! I'm back to my masses, ladies and (the one) gentleman. I am immensely pleased and overjoyed by your reaction to my story. I have some good time and effort into my work and I hope you guys appreciate it as much as I apprecite you guys for reading and reviewing it._

_This chapter will focus back on our #1 couple Aidan and Anna, while I might add in some Josh cuteness in the middle there (maybe some Nora interaction, perhaps). This follows Aidan as he drives her home and continues his persuit of her (200-years-old, hello?)._

_P.S. I'm not perfect but, I try and I own nothing._

...

Aidan had been driving a good 10 minutes and he hadn't said anything to the woman in his backseat. Truthfully, despite his inner determination to get her to talk to him after that bad phonecall, he didn't know where to begin. She had afterall had quite an eventful night, to say the least.

It had been her first 'change.'

Her first transformation into a monster.

And Aidan, do to his year-old friendship with Josh, knew that couldn't be easy. Especally for someone like her. From what he'd gathered from his best friend, she was attending school at Emerson and owned an apartment nearby. The very picture of a normal existance.

And he also learned she had, unbelievably, no friends.

Except now.

Now she had Josh, an eager Sally, and if she ever allowed it, him.

Don't get him wrong, he still wanted her. Very much.

Not exactly the platonic, safe foundation to build a friendship on.

But, along with his baser desires, came the other part of his brain. The part that registered the pressure of concern in his chest as he looked through his mirror at his tired-looking passenger.

She didn't look so good. She looked pale and almost sick, in fact. Again, he knew that look and had seen on Josh's face from the first minute he'd met him. The look of resignation and fatigue that came from a night of the full moon. Of course, Josh had already been a werewolf a while before they'd even met and still had a chip on his shoulder at the change in his life.

But, Anna had just been turned. This was her first transformation ever.

And yet, he still wanted desperately to both ignore and embrace the urge to pull her into his arms and tell her she wasn't gonna ever be alone in this.

This urge was foreign, especially with a woman. Usually for him, it was 'fuck and leave' (sounds terrible, but it was the truth). The last woman he had allowed himself to even like was Rebecca and look how that turned out. And that was his problem. He couldn't be with normal human women because he had to fight the urge to drain them dry and based on his last failed attempt, couldn't bother with vampires without turning back to his former ways.

_Fuck that._

And Anna was... both normal and an anomoly in his universe. She looked like an average (well, as average as a striking beauty like her could get) human woman. But, she wasn't. Especially after last night, she was barely just that anymore.

He had listed reasons in his head as to why he shouldn't and should persue this woman.

1. She's a werewolf.

2. He could be with her without biting her (wolf blood tasted like cow piss).

The end.

Yup, that was all he could come up with. He was never any good at making lists and he wasn't gonna start now.

"Pull over here." He heard her quietly from the backseat and seeing where she gestured to, he parked what looked like some bushes.

"But, this isn't where-"

And she was out of his car like a light.

Putting his car quickly in park, he got out and went after her.

"Anna!"

Walking after her, he found her hunched behind some bushes, throwing up. And sobbing.

_Oh, great._

Aidan looked around. He didn't know what to do here. He felt lost and helpless. A feeling he did _not_ welcome.

Deciding at best that doing nothing wouldn't help her, he slowly walked to her, like one would a sick animal.

As he neared, Aidan saw that her small body was shaking violently making her heave even more into the grass. He layed a hand on her trembling back, frowning as she flinched from his touch.

Oh, well, that just won't do.

Trying again, he layed another on her shoulder.

She tried moving away from him again but, he tightened his hold on her. "Please don't." Her voice was small and raw sounding from her vomiting and crying.

He didn't even bother questioning the way his unbeating heart broke a little at the sound of it.

"Don't what?" He asked her gently. It occured to him that he sounded like a damn kindergarten teacher but, again he didn't know how to do this.

"I don't know... I just can't- I can't..." Her voice was quickly starting become hysterical. "I-I just don't know how to do this." She blurted out, stifling a sob coming from her throat.

_Well, ditto, sweetheart._

Rubbing her back, he urged her calmly. "Do what? You can tell me."

She began crying softly, still not looking at him. "I'm a monster. I turned into a monster last night and I don't know what to do with that." He was surprised he even understood what she was saying because her voice came out slightly jumbled and babbly.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not!" She voiced loudly, finally looking at him.

Aidan stared at her. Her cheeks were intensely flushed, her nose was slight runny, and she looked utterly dischievelled. He was starting to think it was crime, no, a _felony_ to still be so beautful, even in such a state.

He then decided to placate her while being truthful. "No, it's not. But, you are not alone in this. You've got Josh and Sally." _And me_. "It doesn't have to be soo terrible." He finished, gazing intently into her blue eyes.

It was a minute before she smiled at him. A watery, broken one but, a smile all the same. "Thank you." She said softly.

"Your welcome." He smiled warmly down at her.

_Correction: I am the one in trouble._

...

**A/N: Did you like it? Sorry, no Josh in this one. Just got carried away with the Anna/Aidan stuff and my focus on other characters got away from me. But, don't worry, Josh will be featured in the next chapter (which will be longer, I promise!) as well as some Sally/Aidan interaction like I mentioned and did not delivery on a couple of chapters ago. **

**Now, press the little button on the bottom of the page and you know what to do.**


	6. Yes & No

_I'm back. And with some treats and tricks (is that the other way around?). I'm exaggerating obviously but, I am here with a new, hopefully good chapter for my loyal readers. And hey, guess what? This will indeed include some Josh/Nora cuteness and some good ol' Sally/Aidan banter, as you like it. I'm also loving the reaction to the Aidan/Anna centered last chapter. This will begin with more of that and then flesh out with the other characters (I have not forgotten my promise to make it longer, okay)._

_P.S. Oh! And I just wanted to recommend a Sally/Aidan story that I read the other day and really enjoyed: 'Eternity' by **bergamotsoul** (it's a small, character piece but, it's woth the read)._

_P.S.S. Just enjoy and keep in mind, I own not a damn thing here._

...

"Are you sure your okay?"

Anna smiled at the vampire's concern. Yes, she was feeling better. Much, much better. All thanks to Aidan. Although, she knew the momentary peace from her breakdown wouldn't last, that the second she was alone her strength would crumble again, she kept those thoughts small and in the back of her mind as she and Aidan got back to his car.

She caught a surprised expression on his handsome face as she reached for the handle on the passenger's seat door. "You don't mind if I join you in the front, right? I mean, I'm not gonna throw up again." Anna shrugged a shoulder behind, pointing thumb towards the spot she was at not five minutes ago. "I pretty much lost all my stomach content in that bush over there, so..."

"It's fine." He gave her a half-smile and a weird flutter quivoured in her heart. "Come on."

He got into his side and she slid into the passenger's side.

Once they were back on the road, Aidan inquired again. "So, are you okay? I mean, do you want me to call Josh or-"

"No, no, no. The last thing I need is for him to worry. I'm a big girl. I got this." When Anna glanced and saw the slightly dejected look on his face, she felt compelled to add. "You've helped plenty already."

She made certain he felt her sincerity because his lips formed into a breathtaking, full smile in her direction before looking back at the road. "Any friend of Josh is a friend of mine." He tried sounding as casual and nonchalant as he could muster, but for the first time in the few encounters she's had with him, Anna saw right through him.

"Good."

A comfortable silence followed and Anna took that time to look over at her driver.

She could scarcely suppress a sigh as she let herself drink him in. He was such a handsome man.

Again, Anna had spent most of her adolensence and now bergeoning young adulthood both passively and actively avoiding any kind of male interaction (her childhood was different; she only payed attention to boys that she wanted to beat the crap out of and there were a lot), so she honestly had no handle on what her type was anyway. She was 21 now and a half-way grown woman who'd never even kissed a man before (well, once, but that was 'spin the bottle' and the freckled, spectacled idiot had slobbered all over her face before _attempting_ to stick his nasty tongue in her mouth before she knocked him out silly).

But, Aidan sure was _something_. She wanted to run her fingers through his black hair and that strong jaw of his just called for lips to trail on it. She next let her eyes travel to the large arms encased in an extremely fitted, long-sleeved back sweater. Arms she imagined hugging her in comfort and maybe cradling her nude body as they lay in post-coital...

_Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Where the hell did that come from, lady?_

The booming, critical voice in her head snapped her out of her imaginative thoughts. Yeah, sure Aidan had made no secret of his attraction to her. An attraction that surprised the hell out of her, to be honest. Anna didn't think herself ugly. Nor did she think she was the most beautiful thing in the room at any given moment. She was kinda short and very curvy (she was thinkful for that; Anna wasn't cut out to be a waif) with brown hair and pale skin. The only thing she actually liked on herself were her blue eyes. That was the only outstanding feature she saw on an otherwise unextroardinary looking appearance.

Anna had no clue what Aidan saw in her. But, she did like the way her insecurities evaporated briefly when his eyes focused on her like she was the only one in the room. Eyes that looked dark and hungry in her direction. Eyes that made her feel both nervous and excited all at once.

"What?"

His voice snapped her suddenly out of her thoughts. "Hmm?"

"You've been staring at me for the past 10 minutes? Do I have something on my face or something?" Well, damn. She forgot she had been doing that.

Even so, his voice didn't sound aggitated or annoyed, just amused and... something that made heat burst through her lower regions.

"We're here."

They pulled up to her partment building.

They looked at each other for a moment and she barely registered the question as it stupidly spilled forth. "Do you wanna come up?"

_Oh god. What the hell, Anna?_

_What? He was nice and he helped me..._

_What are you gonna do? Give him your first time as a reward? Get real!_

Even so, Anna had already asked and she froze in fear as she waited for his answer. And as she watched him, it seemed the relaxed, gentle man who had comforted her had all but disappeared. She could see the muscles in his arm tighten visibly and his pale knuckles grip his steering wheel tensely. Alarm bells rang in her head as she considered the predictament she had put herself in.

Bad idea. Backtrack, backtrack, backtrack-

"Yes."

"What?"

The look he levelled her with was damn near smoldering and she gulped. "I wanna come up."

"Oh, okay-"

"But, I'm not going to." He looked at the steering whell he was gripping so tightly.

And again, she couldn't stop herself. "Why?"

Her voice came out smaller than she wanted it to and his eyes flashed back to her.

"Because, right now, I can feel how afraid you are." His gaze travelled her shamelessly. "And I know it's not because you think I'll kill you."

His voice had lowered significantly by the end of his sentence and she fought a shiver. She knew now she had get out of his car because she was starting to have trouble breathing when he looked at her like that.

Not knowing what else to say, Anna said what she should have said the minute he had parked. "Okay, bye then." She winced at the chirpy, fake sound of her own voice.

She didn't even look back back at Aidan to know he watching her as she walked away.

...

Josh sighed as he held his face in his hands, fighting off his headache.

He'd been thinking about Anna since he had gotten to the hospital. Last night had been her first transformation with him and he just hoped she was okay. She had looked so pale and sick when he'd left her in Aidan's car. And sad, too. So terribly sad it hurt his heart to think about it.

_God, poor thing._

He knew Anna didn't deserve this. She was a smart, beautiful girl who just did not deserve what this monster had done to her.

But, nothing could be done now. All he could was help her through it and hope that their friendship would be enough to heal her somehow.

Oh, did he hope so.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

The familiar, female voice made up him look up .

Nora.

"What?"

The blonde surgeon smiled wryly before continuing. "You okay? You just look a bout of depression short of a bottle of Xanax. What happened?"

She sat down across from him without preamble.

He smiled widely. Her very presense seemed to immediately brighten his day. "I'm fine. Just had to... help a friend with something last night and I hope she's okay."

"She?" He looked at her and saw an eyebrow cocked. It took him to realize the unspoken implication in her question.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no. Nothing like that. She's just a f-friend. You introduced us actually. Or you mentioned her to me." He bumped his head on the table. "God, I am making no sense."

He heard her chuckle as she reached out and patted him on the hand. "Easy, doe-eyes. I was just kidding."

Josh lifted his head and looked at the attractive woman across from him.

She smiled beautifically at him and leaned forward in her seat. "Actually, I am here with a purpose."

He grinned. "Really, do tell."

She grinned flirtatiously.

"I was thinking dinner at my place tonight?" She fake stage-whispered, leaning more into him.

He smiled.

It seemed his night was brightened, too.

...

Aidan slammed the door behind him as he got home.

As he moved to the staircase, Sally misted in front of him. "Hey-"

"Not now, Sally." He grunted heading up the stairs for a cold shower that proabably wouldn't work anyway. The racy, _highly_ graphic thoughts of would have probably happened had he just gone up to Anna's apartment, consequences be damned, were making him irritable and horny as hell.

And he hoped, no,_ prayed_ that the images in his mind would go away along with his present hard-on.

Aidan was being entirely truthful with what he had said to Anna in the car. He had wanted to desperately go up to her apartment and just... just _show_ her what had been on his mind from the second they met. And he knew that she wanted it, too. He could smell her delicious, potent arousal in his car and could almost taste it on his tongue.

But, along with her heat, he could sense something else.

Something pure. Something... untouched.

She was a virgin.

And despite the sexual marathon in his head, the other part of his mind. The nurturing part that felt concern for this woman would not simply allow him to take from her what he, right now, didn't deserve.

And Aidan knew right then that he was already starting to care for her.

"Well, aren't you in a mood." He heard Sally tell him snippily as he got half-way up the stairs only to turn around and head back down.

"No, no. Actually, we gotta talk. We gotta talk now." He said urgently before sitting on the spot near the window.

The ghost frowned a little but, walked over and sat next to him. "Okay."

And then, after Sally folded her legs beneath her, Aidan began talking.

_Oh, this is gonna be hell._

...

**A/N: Odd ending, I know. But, the second part of their actual talk will be in the next chapter, I promise you. In any case, hoped you enjoyed the first Anna/Aidan part, then the following cuteness that is Nora/Josh along with some good Sally/Aidan ender.**

**Now you know what makes mama happy (review, review, review!).**


	7. Outsider's Input

_Hello! Welcome back. I'm really, really loving you guy's reaction to my story so far. I also have enjoyed writing it as well. And obviously, I have been loving creating the character of Anna and her strong friendship with Josh as well as her developing attraction and feelings for Aidan (he's really hot, right?). This chapter will start with some Sally/Aidan interaction (same thing as what ended last chapter) and then move on from there._

_Enjoy and I own nothing (damn!)._

...

Sally gaped at her roommate, feeling a mixture of pride and surprise at what he had told her. Well, not that_ much_ surprise, really.

Aidan had told her everything about what had been going through his mind about a certain she-wolf (except for the explicit stuff because she so did not need to hear that). He had told her about the drive that got interrupted by Anna's need to lose her breakfast in a bush and the following drive to her apartment that resulted in her inviting him up to her place and him saying both yes and no.

Sally wished she was more surprised at this. The night she and Aidan had met Anna for the first time, she had watched the vampire eye their houseguest like one would a juicy steak. She could roll her eyes at how obvious he was being (being 200-years-old and all, you'd think he'd have more finesse). Salle even caught on to the fact that Josh had even noticed his immortal roommate eye-fucking his new friend. Of course, it was Josh and he didn't say anything. If only just to keep the evening about welcoming Anna into the fold and all that.

And after she had disappeared when Josh had gone to the store, it seemed something had shifted between Aidan and Anna (who, bless her, stayed put to take the load off Josh's back and help wash dishes). It seemed everytime Anna would move to sit or stand anywhere, Aidan would waste no time in staying by her side. Granted, he had been more subtle about it then earlier in the evening so, it had taken Sally a little while to recognize the possessive dog and pony show he was putting on.

"So, that explains it, then." Her voice had an 'aha!' quality to it that made Aidan's dark eyebrows quirk upward.

"What?"

"Come on. Like you don't know." The ghost stared at him, waiting for a lightbulb moment, and when it didn't arrive, her eyes visbly widened. "Oh my god, you don't."

"Don't what, Sally?" His voice held an exasperation at being kept out of the loop about something he was apparently supposed to already know.

"Seriously! Your such a guy. You should have totally figured this out by now!" Sally was almost boucing in her sit. She seemed both excited and aggitated, which only served to darken Aidan's irritation and apparent oblivion.

"What are you talking about?"

She smiled widely, in the way that she did. "Your in love with the she-wolf."

And then, you could hear a pin drop.

It was minute. A silent minute where her friend stared at her like she had grown a second head.

And then he got up and began moving towards the door, only for Sally to mist in front of him again. "Oh, come on. Come on. You know I'm right." She tried feebly to block his way but, he inevitably just walked through her. "Where are you going?"

"Out." And then, all she heard was the door slam.

_That went well._

...

Anna was studying at her kitchen counter, her book open and a notebook at the ready for her notes, her ipod jammed in her ears to drown out distracting thoughts and sounds.

She loved studying. Just being by herself researching and writing answers down after reading through something _soo_ thoroughly gave her an innate sense of satisfaction. And it also helped that she got nearly excellent grades when she did study. Which, given her lack of a social life, was all the time. So, luckly for her, grades were the least of her worries.

That and she had an exam in a couple of days. Never hurts to be prepared. And it also kept her mind off of certain things (or in this case, people).

Or a_ certain_ person. A _certain _person who had said he wanted to come up to her place and then recanted, saying he wasn't going to and then-

_Stop. Just stoppit, Anna._

She really did not wanna think about this. Especially now. She didn't want to think about the look on his face when she had asked him if he wanted to come up to her apartment or the way his gaze slid over shamelessly and thrillingly...

Anna looked down at her open book.

Art History. Her favorite subject.

And she couldn't even focus on it.

_Dammit!_

Before she could indulge more in her thoughts or attempt to continue her feeble route of distraction, she noticed her phone light up next to her. The music in her ears made it difficult to hear but, she could see it was ringing.

Grabbing it, Anna could almost slap herself at her initial hope that it was Aidan, shaking it off before snapping her phone open and grinning nonetheless at the name she saw blinking on the small screen.

Putting her phone to her ear, she greeted her friend. "Hi Josh."

_"Are you okay?"_ His voice sounded urgent and extremely concerned through the phoneline.

"Gee, that's one hell of a greeting. Whatver happened to 'hello' or 'hey, what's up' or-"

_"Anna!"_ He cut her off impatiently.

"Yes! Yes. I'm okay. I'm fine. Why?" Anna grabbed a nutri-grain bar near her bag, suddenly in need of a snack.

_"Aidan called me." _

Son of a bitch.

"And what did dear Aidan say to you?" She fought an instinctual shiver at his name on her tongue and managed to keep her voice nonchalant and dripping with sarcasm.

_"I think you know what he said to me."_ The slightly crackling quality of the line was suddenly clear and she could hear the demand in his voice that called for honesty.

Anna sighed in resignation. "Oh, here we go."

_"Yes. Here we go. I told you could call me if anything happened today. If you feel mad, call me. If you feel sad, call me. If you feel the need to cry and throw up in a goddamn bush-"_

"Call you. I get it." She almost felt like chuckling but, thought the better of it.

_"I mean it, Ann."_ They hadn't been friends that, that long but, he was the only one allowed to call her by that nickname. The only other person had been her bitch of a foster mother.

"I know. I'm sorry I worried you. I just wanted to handle... this on my own." She made sure he heard her apologize sincerely in her voice.

There was deep sigh from his end of the line. _"It's fine. I just... your not alone. You hear me? You can come to me. You can talk to me and I'll listen."_

She felt tears in her eyes.

How did she ever deserve such a great best friend?

"Thanks, Josh."

She heard shuffling, indicating he was walking. _"Your welcome. Listen, I gotta go. My shift ends in an hour and after, I'm headed home to change and I have a thing with Nora tonight. Are you sure your gonna be okay?"_

"Yeah. I'm fine. You go. Have fun on your date." Her voice came out brighter as she tried injecting light into their conversation.

He obviously got the hint because he chuckled and said mischieviously. _"Oh, I will."_

She laughed quietly. "Bye, Josh."

_"Bye."_ And they both hung up.

Going back to her studies, she got as far as pressing her pen barely onto her paper before she heard the knock at her door.

_Who the hell would wanna visit me now?_

Hopping off her counter stool, Anna walked over to the door, hearing another couple of harder knocks.

"Calm down. I'm coming." She said loudly as she neared.

The knocking ceased and when she leaned up to look into her peephole, her breath hitched.

Aidan.

...

**A/N: HA! HA! I know. I'm bad. I honestly wasn't planning on teasing you guys soo early in the story but, as I was writing this chapter, I suddenly had the idea to end on a mini-cliffy. Hope you don't hate me for this. And if you think I suck, just be nice about it.**

**Anyway, love you guys. Please review!**


	8. Let Me In

_Hey ya! Back again with (finally!) some pivotal Aidan/Anna moment. Probably some Josh and Sally stuff to cool you down after (hehe!). Love you guys and I really do hope you've enjoyed reading my story and all. I appreciate the reviews, favorites, author and story alerts I've been added to._

_I own nothing._

...

Aidan had felt her as soon as he'd arrived at her door. And it had made him all the more eager to actually see her. And, to make it worse, he had smelled her as soon as she was right on the other side of that door after his incessant knocking.

But, she hadn't done anything else. Nothing.

After his talk with Sally, in which she'd given the terrifying revelation that he'd already fallen in love with the woman whose door he was standing outside of now, he'd been a little more than swayed in his element, so to speak. To think that this... _somewhat_ normal woman could affect him this way after such a long time of feeling nothing even close to what he was feeling now, terrified and left him reeling.

After driving around for god knows how long, he ended up here. At her apartment building. And now outside her apartment door, where he could feel her so close, he was going crazy with the knowledge that she knew he was there and was making no move to open her door.

He could hear her breathing. Her wildly thumping heart. The rustle of her fingers tracing the heavy piece of wood separating them. He subconsciously had done the same thing, his hand landing on the same spot where he knew hers to be. He could feel her_ that_ acutely.

And there was a tantalizing mix of fear and desire in the air that made his cock twitch in his pants.

_Jesus, her smell is making you hard? Relax Aidan._ His mind scolded him bracingly.

But, he couldn't. Relax, that is. He was no where near the neighborhood of relaxed. Not until she opened the goddamned door!

After the silence finally became unbearable, he decided to speak. "Anna?" His voice came gruffer and rougher than he intended.

Her voice was soft and kinda breathless when she responded. "Aidan..." He could just hear her gulping. "W-What are you doing here? I thought that, ah... I was going to your guys's place tomorrow night." He knew she was just saving face and knew that that wasn't the reason he had shown up here.

"I need..." _I need you_. The thought momentarily startled him before he regained what little composure he had at the moment. He cleared his throat before continuing. "I need to talk to you." Aidan made sure he infused strength he definitely _wasn't_ really feeling into his words.

There was a long pause, in which he just heard her inhale and exhale sharply, before she spoke again. "What about?"

He thought soo many responses before picking the most honest one. "About earlier today."

She sounded a little high-pitched and more nervous when she blurted out. "No, no! It's fine. It's okay. I get. I really-" He could almost feel the enthusiastic shaking of her head.

"I don't think you do." He was aching for her in the worst way already. And he made damn sure she heard it in his voice.

He heard her sweet breath hitch. "Aidan-"

"Let me in." He was quickly becoming impatient but, he was trying to remain as calm as he could be.

"I don't that's a good-"

"I know that. Just..." He did a vampire's version of a cleansing breath. "Open the door. And please, let me in." His words were hushed now, as though he was trying to caress her with his voice, trying to keep the growing desperation inside him at bay.

"Wait. Maybe we should just-" He felt and heard the slight panic in her voice. Panic he most definitely did_ not_ want there.

He tried to soothe her. "Look, I won't do anything you don't want me to. I want you to trust me. Please..." He shut his eyes, taking in her scent in through his nose. "Let me in. I wanna see you."

"Aidan." She breathed out.

"Anna." He was certain she heard how much she affected him so.

There was silence again. A long silence. He could sense her pressed against the door and he was tempted to tear it down _just_ to touch her finally.

He was about to give up. Leave to spare himself the heartache.

Then, he heard the door handle.

He waited tensely as the door opened slowly.

...

Sally stared outside her house window, patting her lap with anxiety. Anxiety mixed with a little guilt.

Aidan had been gone for nearly four hours already. He had looked so out of sorts when he had left after she had told him her epiphany about his feelings for their new friend. The godsmacked expression on his face made her guilty because she knew (or had a pretty good idea) how long it had probably been since he'd really, really loved anyone. And he was 200-years-old and to go that long without feeling that certain... _something _for another person must have killed him.

Not that Sally was wrong. She was right. Not to toot her own horn or anything but, she was a girl, she knew these things. She was no fool, thank you very much.

Except when it came to her own relationships apparently.

Danny's face flashed through her mind and she gritted her teeth. The same man who had loved and proposed to her. The man she had thought she would love forever. Was also her murderer and she was gonna have to live (um, exist) with that knowledge. And now, he had her best friend in his clutches. A best friend who had pointedly refused her help.

_Damn_. Being a ghost sucks.

...

"God, that was an awesome dinner!" Josh exclaimed as he patted his stomach while laying on Nora's couch.

The aforementioned blonde laughed from her kitchen. "Thank you."

He took a sip of wine as he watched her move around the kitchen, cleaning and putting things away, suddenly feeling bolder.

As she moved back to put dishes into her dishwasher, he almost thought this was a bad idea. He had just turned last night and the few sips of alcohol he had taken was affecting him a little more than usual. He didn't know how this was gonna turn out but, he just hoped he wouldn't make a complete ass out of himself.

And once she put the last dish in, he made his move.

Saddling up behind her, he leaned an arm around her to turn off the sink water.

And she turned to face him, her pretty eyes sparkling, he knew he had made a good decision.

"Josh-"

He cut her off. The kiss was nice and strong. He was still a tad nervous. It had been two years afterall.

When she moaned into his mouth, he grinned. Lifting her up onto her counter, a move he had perfected their last date at his house, he pulled away slowly, looking into her eyes.

He still must have seemed nervous because she smiled softly at him. "How long has it been?"

He went for honesty. "Two years."

"Well, then, let's make this memorable, huh?" And she yanked him by his shirt, kissing him more aggressively, making_ him_ moan against her onslaught.

And as he felt her jump off the counter and then look back at him, beckoning a hand for him to follow, he smiled and walked behind her to her bedroom.

_I'm gonna have the best night!_

...

**A/N: I know! I know! I'm aweful. I added some heated Aidan/Anna and then yanked it away from you. Sorry again. And I enjoyed writing Sally and Josh's parts. I thought Josh needed some loving first for once, okay.**

**You know I need me some feedback!**


	9. Done Thinking

_Hello! Welcome back to my super fast update! HA! I very much enjoyed writing my last chapter (Josh is one lucky dog and Aidan is... well, he's soon to be lucky!). This will start off with the Aidan/Anna teaser I left you guys with (sorry about that!). And I'm making this up as I go along so, I have no idea how it's gonna turn out. I wish I did, but I don't. I'm appreciating all the praise though. You guys are great!_

_Here we go. I own nothing._

...

Anna felt air whoosh out of her lungs as she fully opened her door. The butterflies in her stomach nearly made her naseous and her heart was thumping soo loudly, she was quite sure the man waiting for her on the other side of the door could hear it.

_He's a vampire, idiot. Of course, he could hear it!_

She tried to compose herself. The way Aidan had spoken to her through her door made her face heat up and her lady parts were berating her to just let him in. Her heart sang with emotions she couldn't quite identify. He hadn't even said anything remotely expilcit or any kind of declaration of feelings or anything but, she could hear it in his textured voice that she could feel way down to her toes.

Litlle by little, she pushed the door open. Buying her time and confidence she just did not have at the moment.

_One... Two... Three..._

_Open sesame!_

And there he stood.

He wore the same thing he was wearing earlier when he'd dropped her off. Only this time sporting a leather jacket.

Yummy. _Dammit!_

The way he looked at her. Like a thirsty man deprived of water for so long, only to find an abundant fountain to drink from, made her blush even more. The naked hunger and desire in his eyes made her knees weak and her, um... _parts_ tingle.

The words he had said in his car resonated in her head, making her even fill up with even more trepidation and excitement.

_"I can feel how afraid you are. And I know it's not because you think I'll kill you."_

_Oh, boy._

"Hi." Aidan's voice brought her attention back to him.

As he slid his dark gaze over from head to toe, she shuffled self-consciously. When she had arrived that morning, Anna had never been more relieved that she had no classes. She'd immediately showered, brushed her teeth, and then had changed into a pajama set of a layered tank top and some coordinating striped pajama pants. She'd gone and dozed off on her bed. A doze that turned into 3 hours of sleep.

After waking up, she brushed her teeth again and had sat down to study. Which had gotten interrupted by her phonecall with Josh and again interrupted by the arrival of the man standing in front of her.

"Hi." She hoped she didn't sound so breathless and aroused but, her voice wouldn't listen.

"Are you gonna invite me in?"

She nodded like a moron before remembering she was gonna have to actually voice her invitation. "Oh! Yeah. Please, come in."

Anna gestured oddly inside her apartment as he made to move across the threshold. When he walked past her, her 'wolfy senses' picked up the masculine, subtle scent of his cologne mixed with his cool bare essense. The momentary sensory overload caught her off balance and she had to hold onto her door handle to keep herself standing.

And then, when he turned to look at her, giving her one of his 'looks, she fought a shiver. "So, what did you wanna talk about?" She cringed as her voice came out high-pitched and loud.

As he started coming closer, she held a hand out to halt him. "Wait. Wait. Let's just think for a sec-"

"I'm done thinking." He was very close to her now. He looked predatory now, with his black clothes and leather jacket. And she was sure, standing pressed against her own door in her pastel sleepwear, she looked very much like easy prey to him.

When he was finally in front of her, intruding into her personal space, she leaned closer into the door. "All I do now is think about you anyhow." She let out a shakey breath as his broad, cool hand layed on her cheek, his thump stroking her face. "So, what would be the point in thinking when I know exactly what I want." It was a statement. Not a question.

Of course, she got no chance to say anything back because her mouth became pre-occupied.

It's always been said that you always remember your first kiss. Anna always thought that was an exaggeration. But, as Aidan pressed his perfect lips against hers gently, she finally got it.

His kiss was... god, it was perfect. It was less aggressive than she'd imagined a kiss with him would be. He was softer, more gentle than she could ever hope for. His cold lips nipped lightly before her own subconsciously got the message and opened up.

"Mmm." She felt a thrill go through her as he hummed and groaned as their tongues met.

It took Anna a sceond to realize that he pressing her deeper into her door and the kiss, if possible, deepened further. She gasped in want as their mouths tangled together.

She wasn't even paying attention that she was pushing his leather jacket off until the rustle of the fabric hit the floor.

Her hands had a mind of their own as they freely roamed his broad back. She had no idea what she was doing but, based on the soft growl eminating from his throat, she was doing pretty damn good for a first timer.

Breathing became heavier and harder to achieve as the kiss intensified. His wonderful tongue flicked repeatedly inside her warm mouth, a moan yanking itself out of both their throats.

And his hands weren't idle, either. He caressed her sides with strong fingers, coming to place both big hands on her ample hips, holding as close to him as possible.

Aidan's fingers dug into the sliver of skin that had been revealed between her top and pants. Not realizing what he was doing, one of his hands had snaked beneath the back of her top, the warmth of her back engulfing his palm.

"Mmmm..." Her soft, feminine moan went straight to his cock and he unconsciously rocked his hips against hers as he started placing kisses on her neck, sucking on her pulse without having the urge to bite into it.

And that is when she froze.

Making himself stop, he paused, face still pressed into her neck. "What's wrong?" His voice was rougher than it had ever sounded.

"It's nothing. It's just-" She sounded apologetic and as he straightened to look at her, still in his arms, she was shaking her head to clear it.

"I'm not ready." She looked him dead in the eye as she said this.

_Great. I knew I souldn't have come here._

"Oh." And he stepped back, releasing her from his hold.

He must have let his disappointment show on his face because the thing he knew, she was speaking again. "Oh! No. No. No! I don't mean _this_." She gestured between them and smiled a little. "I like this. This is fine. It's just the um,... sex thing." She mumbled the last part a bit and he thanked his superior hearing because he heard it perfectly. "I'm not ready for that. I've never-"

He moved forward and had her in his arms again, gazing into her eyes. "It's okay. Really. I don't care about that right now." Okay, so he was lying a little but, it was not the most important thing on his mind with her at least. "I can wait til your ready. Until then..."

"Until then what?" She looked at him inquisitively, like she was trying to read him.

He smiled at her. "Until then, I can take you out to dinner."

She laughed and smiled brightly.

If he wasn't sure before, that was probably the kick in the ass that made him realize how in deep he was with this woman.

...

**A/N: Well, what'd you think? Be honest. And yes, Aidan will wait for as long as Anna will make him. And he is serious about the dinner, too. And I have not said the 'L' word again because Aidan still isn't sure he feels love yet. His feelings are strong, _very_ strong, though. And Anna is still finguring her feelings for him, too, so...**

**Love ya and please review!**


	10. Waiting On Maybe

_Hello there! Look who is back so soon! And guess what, this will be a really, really good one. This chapter will be full of Aidan & Anna goodness. And no, they will be no sex, at least not yet. And this will be more about their building a romance than anything else as well as her growing friendships with Josh and Sally. And as I've said in my last author's note, Aidan is more than willing to wait for Anna but, that doesn't mean he's gonna be entirely patient (or that Anna is gonna less nervous about it). And for you Josh fans (**Joshettes**, maybe?), this chapter will have some Josh/Nora stuff to hold you over. And Anna & Aidan will not date in this chapter but, soon._

_And expect some great 'girl friend' humor with Sally and Anna. As well as similiar man humor with Josh and Aidan. YAY!_

_Read on and I own nothing (if I had given them the right address, Aidan should have been here sooner)._

...

"That was amazing." The slender blonde next to him murmured sleepily.

Josh looked over at his bedmate and smiled. The night had gone better than expected. Which had surprised him. He hadn't had sex since his 'change' and he quickly found that the wolf hadn't really changed his bedroom performance. Just made him more... aggressive, really.

Something he quickly found that Nora liked, a lot. Completely contrasting the controlling, tough doctor she was at the hospital, she had been more submissive than he had expected.

She was soft and pliant in his hands, following and giving into his every move.

Now, Josh had OCD in the worst way. And that made him annoyingly anal. And coupled with his pre-med education, made him also prone to memorizing every little detail. Something it seemed he also practiced in his sex life. Getting to know every single inch of his partner's body before getting to the grand finale.

Some women had liked that about him; others hadn't. Nora had loved it, though. And she had been more than extremely vocal about it, too.

Placing a hand on her naked hip, Josh began nuzzling the back of her neck as he spooned her, smiling when he heard her contented sigh.

...

"Sally!"

Aidan's voice almost boomed inside the seemingly empty house as he slammed the door behind him, yanking off his leather jacket, tossing it carelessly on their louge chair.

The aforementioned ghost appeared and immediately kneeled next to him while he sat on the couch, an odd expression on his face. "Are you okay? I really didn't mean to scare you off with what I said earlier, it's just-"

It was then she realized the smile forming on her roommate's face. "What? Why are you smiling like that?"

"I asked her out." He looked straight ahead as he spoke, the smile disappearing quicker than it came.

"Her who? You asked who out?"

Aidan just glanced at her, a weirdly sheepish expression planted on his handsome face.

It took Sally exactly a minute to deduce who he meant. "Anna?"

He nodded slowly, meeting her eyes seriously. "Oh my god! Yes! I wish I could hug you! This is so great Aidan-"

The vampire waved her off. "Hold on a minute Sally. It's not for sure yet. She didn't even say yes." He nearly pouted as he slumped back onto the couch.

Sally paused in her happy dance. "Well, what did she say?"

Aidan heaved out a useless breath. "She said... maybe." And when he said the last word, it was said with disdain.

She tried cheering him up. "Oh, come on. 'Maybe' doesn't mean no, right?"

"It doesn't mean yes, either, Sally." He snapped back at her, crossing his arms over his built chest like a 5-year-old deprived of candy.

Sally rolled her eyes to the ceiling, smirking silently before smiling widely at her friend.

Sensing her eyes on him, he grumbled. "What is it, Sally?"

She began laughing through her next words. "Man, you've got it bad."

The laugh became louder as his pout persisted and he huffed, smacking his head against the couch edge.

...

_"You change your mind yet?"_

Anna chuckled into her phone. It had been 2 days since Aidan had kissed her and then asked her out. She had been so overwhelmed by his visit in the first place that she wasn't sure she could say yes. The way he had held and embraced her. The emotions in his demeanor and kisses had scared her. It freaked her out that she could cause such a reaction out of someone like him.

And the fact that he hadn't forced sex out of her (even though she had, ahem... felt that he wanted to), made him seem too good to be true. Still, she was unsure. Stupid, really. She knew deep down she was probably gonna end up saying yes anyway. And why delay the inevitable, right?

But, she really wanted to see if he would wait for her. Not just sex but,_ her_.

She wasn't gonna make him wait long. Honest. But, she was just testing out the waters. Playing hard to get. Her version of hard to get, to be safe.

_"Well?"_

She focused back on his voice on the other end. The voice of the man in her head. "Ah... define change?" She asked, a teasing lilt in her voice.

_"Jesus, your killing me." _He gave an exaggerated, overdramatic sigh.

"Well, I swear... it's not on purpose." _Okay. Maybe a little._

As if reading her thoughts through the phoneline, he countered, his voice lower and slightly husky. _"Liar. You know what your doing to me." _His voice did bad things to her libido. _"Confession's good for the soul. Come on."_

Giggling lightly to cover her own reaction to his voice, she pushed back. "I will confess to no such thing."

He chuckled lowly._ "Alright, have it your way then."_

"Oh, I will." She said back smartly.

There was a brief pause. A pause filled with tension and new energy. _"I really do wanna see you." _His voice was now filled with longing and it made her ache in a bad way.

"I'm going to your neighborhood watch thing, remember? We can see each other then."

_"No. I wanna see you."_ He sounded rougher. More raw.

"Aidan-"

_"I'm not trying to pressure you into anything. I just..." _He hesitated a minute and she could hear him sigh. _"I find myself missing you." _He chuckled gruffly before continuing. _"Is that weird? I mean, I saw you two days ago-"_

"Aidan-"

_"I knew I had it bad for you before but, this is just-"_

"Aidan-" She flushed beet red. She needed to make him stop talking. The last thing she wanted right now was for him to start confessing things she was definitely _not _ready to hear.

_"Ridiculous. I think about you all the time-"_

"Aidan, stop!" She needed mean to sound so harsh but, it had the intended effect. There was a long silence on the other end of the line. And if it weren't for the slight bustle of people she could hear in the background, Anna would have wondered if he had hung up on her.

Then he spoke again and he sounded sheepish, a characteristic she would have never associated with him. _"I'm sorry. Too much?"_

"A little bit."

There was more silence and she could just hear him thinking._ "Does it frighten you? Knowing how much I want you?" _There was no seduction in his voice. He suppiled the question like he was asking about the weather and that freaked her the hell out.

Since we're being honest here. "I'm not used to it."

There was another deep, dark laugh before he gently chided her. _"Well, you better get used to it, then because I'm not going anywhere."_ A sounded like both a promise and a warning.

Anticipation fluttered in her stomach.

Before she could say anything, there was a litany of female voices on his end and he cursed under his breath before talking to her again. _"Listen, I gotta get back to work. I'll see you soon?"_ He sounded hopeful and she bit back a smile.

"You will. Goodbye, Aidan."

Another pause. _"Goodbye, beautiful." _

And that was enough to make her scream at herself for ever resisting him.

...

"Hi ya!"

Anna screamed as she jumped at the new voice in her bedroom, spinning to see Sally sitting with her legs crossed on her bed. The ghost's sudden appearance almost gave her a heart attack, although more out of surprise than anything else.

"Sally!" She clutched her red towel to her chest, trying to calm her erratic heartbeat.

The spirit smiled apologetically. "Sorry."

Sighing, Anna went back to her task of picking out an outfit for the evening. "So, what brings to my lovely abode?"

"I have it on good authority that a certain _someone_ is freaking out about going to certain neighborhood watch meeting where a certain vampire will be waiting for that certain _someone_-"

"You know you suck at speaking in code, right?" She tossed a nude-colored pleasant blouse on her bed next to Sally.

She laughed at the pout on her friend's face.

"I'm sorry. Yes. I called Josh earlier to vent on my standing on with Aidan, where I'm sure you were listening-"

"I was not!"

"-listening like I'm sure you do. And now you are here to help my confidence and give me some wonderful piece of girly advice. Right?" She cocked an eyebrow at the ghost.

"Maybe." Sally grumbled.

She smiled. "Well, in that case, I hope you wouldn't mind helping me pick out an outfit, then." She gestured to her semi-full closet of garmets and shoes.

"Please, just because I can't change clothes doesn't mean I can't remember how to dress." And misted in front of her closet to help with the process.

Minutes passed as Anna began selecting things to wear and indulged in conversation with her new gal pal.

...

Josh looked up from his cooking to see his friend freshly showered and dressed to impress. Well, dressed better to impress, that is. It almost made Josh jealous that Aidan didn't have to try so hard to nab attention. Even in his hospital scrubs, half the nursing staff (female and sometimes, male) went after him.

Of course, he knew now that Aidan had his attentions on a cetain she-wolf that was going to join in on the festivities of an _oh-so _fun neighborhood watch meeting. A neighborhood she wasn't even really a part of.

Josh had only invited her because for once, he wanted a person he actually wanted to talk to at these meetings. They bored him to tears sometimes and it helped that Aidan wanted to see her. When his best friend had told him he had asked her out, he wasn't really surprised. Thanks to Sally, he had gotten an inkling of his friend's feelings for Anna.

That and he hadn't been subtle about eyeing her the first night she had come to the house.

Despite his fiercely protective streak when it came to Anna, he trusted Aidan to treat her right. At least he hoped he would.

"You look like a male model." He cracked at his dark-haired friend as he came into the kitchen, grabbing some blood.

"And your a comedian." He flatly countered.

Josh leaned against the counters, observing the vampire. "Oh, man. You've got it bad."

Aidan finished squirting his blood into the mug he had grabbed. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"

The werewolf laughed as there was a knock at the door.

_And so it begins._

...

**A/N: I hope I didn't disappoint you guys. There will be more of the neighborhood watch meeting in the next chapter and some more Aidan/Anna, because I know that's pretty much why your loving this (that and the adorable Josh as well the lovely and funny Sally!). **

**Feedback would be appreciated.**


	11. Here

_Hey guys! Back again with another chapter for my lovelies. This bit will focus on the neighborhood watch meeting that was mentioned in my last chapter. And yes, our newbie Anna will make a larger than large appearance and she will her moments with besties Josh and Sally as well as her budding romantic romantic interest Aidan (you know I can't deny you guys that!)._

_Have at it. I own nothing._

...

Aidan let out a sigh of impatience while he leaned against the archway that led to the kitchen, looking out into the sea of people that had invaded his home. Although this neighborhood watch thing was initially his idea, it had gotten very old very fast. Sure, he wasn't gonna lie, he had enjoyed it a bit the first time around; the normal swarms of neighbors treating him like a normal person he so desperately wanted to be. Being a part of things.

But, right now. Right at this very second, watching out for new dangers like the latest taggers or goddamn vandals was the last thing on his mind.

No. The only thoughts that had occupied his mind were of a certain brunette who had yet to show up an_ hour_ after she was supposed to. 

_Maybe... maybe she changed her mind._

_Maybe she doesn't want to-_

He shook his head to clear that thought from his head. She was coming. She had to. She told Josh she would show when their invitation was extended.

He had been so pre-occupied with his thoughts that he was almost jolted out of his skin when Sally misted in front of him. "Hi!"

Turning to head into the kitchen, so as to not look like a crazy person, he muttered, "Jesus. Don't do that."

The peppier tha nusual ghost walked over to step in front of him. "Jeez. Relax, Aidan. I just wanted to tell you-"

"Whatever it is, can it wait? I have my mind on other things." He leaned against a counter, pinching the bridge of his nose.

She glared a little at him before supplying. "May I have a guess that it's about a small, blue-eyed brunette wonder who just walked through our door?" She questioned smartly as she looked over his shoulder.

He followed her gaze and saw the object of his affection being helped out of her jacket by Josh, while sending a small wave towards the kitchen, no doubt at him and Sally.

Anna looked stunning. She wore a simple, cream blouse that accentuated her every curve and hip-hugging jeans. Her hair hung loose over her shoulders appealingly and framed her beautiful face.

He could feel his whole body tighten and stand at attention at the sight of her.

He turned to Sally who was smiling widely at him. "That's what I was going to tell you about. She was picking out an outfit when I showed up at her place earlier. She was freaking out a little actually." Nodding to herself, she went on. "I'm almost jealous. Your new girlfriend can pull off a pair of good jeans."

"She's not my-"

"Yeah. Okay. Right." Sally rolled her eyes before disappearing.

...

"What the hell took you so long? I'm almost bored to tears here." Josh whispered as he hugged his best friend tightly. Way too tightly.

It felt great to be so loved but, Anna was starting to have trouble breathing and she made sure to say so.

"Josh... Josh. Your taking my oxygen."

He loosened his grip slightly but, didn't let her go. "Sorry. I'm just glad your here." She smiled as she layed her head on his strong shoulder. "That and Aidan has making me batshit crazy on whether or not you were gonna show up."

He pulled away finally and looked at her with wide eyes. "Don't tell him I said that. I'm not in the mood to see black eyes and fangs so soon in the evening."

She smirked and rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. I won't say anything."

Sally appeared next to Josh's shoulder and Anna fought back a laugh at his start. "Jesus! Do not do that, Sally!" He said in a harsh whisper, making sure no one heard him.

The spirit rolled her eyes. "Calm down, princess. I just wanted to warn our freshly arrived houseguest that a certain member of the undead wishes to see her."

Anna couldn't help an eyeroll of her own. "Unelievable. He sent you here to get me?"

"Uh, no... not really. But, I'm just suggesting you get a move on because he looks like he's about to have a conniption fit."

Anna moved past her friends to head over to the man waiting on her so eagerly.

...

"Thinking about me?"

Anna bit back a grin as Aidan turned his head from looking at his feet to look at her.

"Most definitely."

His answer made her smile brightly.

...

**A/N: Hope you loved!**

**Review!**


	12. Stairs

_Okay. Let me begin by saying, first of all, hi! Welcome back. And secondly, has everyone seen last night's episode? I mean, jesus! Those creepy ass things Sally meets in the hospital, Aidan with that cute little boy (awww!) and of course, that unexpected scene where Josh jumps Nora in the hospital room. I was like, 'are they seriously showing this on TV?' and then, 'you go, boy. Have at it!'_

_Anyway, onto my story. Sorry my last chapter was so half-assed and shorter than my others (I was heading out the door after I wrote the end of it)._

_P.S. In case you didn't get it, loved last night's episode!_

_P.S.S. Read until your eyes bug out (I'm kidding, of course)._

_I own nothing. Not a damn thing *sighs in anguish*._

...

"Wow... this is... this was... I mean really... spectacularly boring."

Josh chortled as he looked at his best friend over his beer. Anna had insisted he rest and she wash the dishes. Of course, because of his OCD, he had protested strongly but, she shut him up and made him sit down with a beer to relax.

"Yeah. But, it was a lot less boring with you here. Aidan is sometimes too busy trying to at lest pretend to socialize with the neighbors and Sally is too busy making fun of them."

She laughed as she put the last dish away. "It sure sounds like Sally."

"That's because a good portion of the neighborhood are just full of asshats!" The aforementioned spirit exclaimed as she misted onto the kitchen counter.

And Josh, ever ready to have a showdown, jumped in. "Sally!"

"No. It's true. I'm not gonna pretend to like these people like-"

"What? Like what? Who, me?"

The ghost shrugged. "Your words. Not mine."

"What the hell-"

Anna rolled her eyes. She did not wanna stick around for their banter to escalate and she wanted to see a certain someone with whom she'd barely had any alone time with during the evening.

"Have you guys seen Aidan?"

Two pairs of knowing eyes swiveled in her direction and she fought a blush.

"He's on the porch." Josh supplied.

Nodding in thanks, she quickly dried her hands and walked out of the kitchen, carefully avoiding her friends gazes.

She also missed the secret, mischievious smile shared between the two.

...

Aidan turned and grinned at the woman joining him on the porch stairs. "Just the woman I was thinking about."

"I bet you say that to all the girls." Anna counterd with a cocked eyebrow, though he could sense the timid satisfaction through her voice.

They sat in silence a moment. A silence filled with tension but, not all together uncomfortable.

He snuck a glance at her, drinking her in with his dark eyes.

_My God, she's beautiful_. His thoughts startled him in their wistfulness.

Her dark, chestnut locks moved gently in the breeze and her softly floral, musky scent of her went up welcoming into his nostrils. making his whole body tighten on reflex.

The blue jacket Josh had helped her out of when she had arrived, was on her again and he questioned as she wound it further around her. "Cold?"

He should think so. Even though the temperature didn't necessarily bother him, it was still hard for him not to realize how nippy it was.

"A little."

He gazed at her. Her cheeks were rosy with the cold and he could make out small puffs of breath coming from her mouth as she took in the night air. His eyes lingered longer than necessary on her lips. Lips he wanted on his again. Lips he wanted on other parts of his body. Lips he imagined would feel heavenly on his-

"Would you go on a date with me?"

This was the second time he was asking. And he wanted a clear answer now and let it be known in his voice.

It was a trite, _stupidly_ mundane question now, with the way he was feeling. But, it stopped from making a complete dick out of himself and give into the very strong impulse to drag her inside and de-virginize her on his cold, lonely bed.

He pictured it vividly in his mind already.

_Her nude, perfect body laying vulnerable and spread open for him..._

_Dark hair fanned against his pillows..._

_Her pink, juicy lips parting in sheer ecstasy as he spread her open..._

_The amount of endless cries and moans coming from her throat as he thrust inside her. Her tight inner walls gripping him in welcome..._

The brunette woman of his fantasies turned to him, a serious look in her eyes.

_And finally, the way she would scream his name as she coms apart for the first time in his arms..._

"Yes."

...

**A/N: Okay. I'm bad. I know this. Just wanted to get it out of the way that a date is coming, alright. Could you believe I was chuckling to myself as I wrote Aidan's last thoughts there? I was just thinking, 'the poor girl has no idea what he's thinking about.' HA!HA!**

**Feedback, please!**


	13. Date

_Hello! I'm back with more, ya'll! Relax. I don't talk like that. So, this is it. The date chapter you all wanted (you know who you are!). You will get the pre, during, and post date fun here and I hope you guys will love this as much I will enjoy writing it!_

_I'm also hoping I keep this chapter nice and long for everybody._

_Enjoy. I own nothing (just a bedroom and a snippy cat)._

...

"So, where is Aidan taking you?"

Anna pivoted carefully on her one leg as she held onto her wall, putting her heel on her other foot. She had decided, that on her first date with the aforementioned vampire, she would at least try to look a little bit more decent than she usually did.

Not that she looked like total crap most of the time but, she wanted to look nicer for the man she liked, okay!

She'd chosen a knee-length, deep navy dress (though, she didn't really get it at the time, Anna had remembered Aidan taking numerous, long glances at her gams the night they met). But, unlike the dress she'd worn that night, this one was meant to be worn out. It had thick straps and gave her a nice, decent amount of cleavage (again, the vampire hadn't been too subtle in checking out her boobs when he first saw her).

And Sally, who had been become her very best girl friend and a frequent visitor to her home, was floored by the choice. Mischieviously suggesting that her date would not keep his hands off her.

Anna had blushed as she went about changing. She'd of course mentioned to her friend that this was her first date ever and the ghost had been surprised, to say the least.

"I honestly have no idea. He says he's got something planned and that it was a surprise. He wouldn't tell me anything else."

She turned fully to see Sally with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Hmm. A surprise already on a first date?"

She sounded surprised again. Anna didn't wanna sound stupid but, aside from dumb girly magazines, she knew next to nothing about dating. So, she inquired with a question of her own.

"Yeah, why? That's not normal?"

The spirit smiled at her question. "No. It's fine. I mean, I'm no expert or anything but, usually spontaneity comes on a third date or even after that. Normally for the guy to show the girl he really likes her."

_Well, that's helpful._

She turned on her back, gathering clothes she'd picked out earlier and hanging them up again.

"Or maybe the guy wants to get laid."

That made her freeze. Sex. Sex with Aidan. Of course she knew he was a man and it's not like she hadn't thought about it. But, it was too soon and he said he wouldn't...

Her mouth went dry and she suddenly needed a drink of water.

She turned slowly to see her friend nod to herself. "Or maybe both." She shrugged.

Anna tried to keep her face neutral but, didn't succeed. Sally took one look at her and just... knew.

"Oh." She almost looked like she was pitying her and though Anna realized she probably hadn't meant it, she stomped to her kitchen, intent on getting a glass of water.

Sally misted into being, trying to block her way. "Listen. It's okay. Aidan would never, ever force you to do anything you don't wanna do."

She avoided her friend's eye, grabbing a glass and shoving non too gently under her faucet. "I know that." She heaved a deep breath and took a long sip of her water.

"And he really, really, really likes you." She looked at Sally as she said this and saw that her friend's slightly more serious expression. She was trying to convey there was more than she was telling her and it worked.

She took another sip of her water.

"If it's been a long time for you then, it's totally fine-"

"Sally, stop."

"Really. It is fine. There is nothing wrong with not having had sex in a while-"

Anna slammed her glass onto her counter. "Well, if you can call 'never' a while. Then, yeah, I completely agree with you on that."

It was a heavy, pregnant pause as Sally stared at her in complete and utter shock.

"Your a virgin?"

Grabbing her gass again, she gulped it down, nodding.

"Can't say I saw that one coming."

She rolled her eyes at her friend's shock and awe moment.

...

Aidan stood a minute outside her door, composing himself. He was taking Anna out on a date. And he never, ever felt so damned nervous in his life. And he wanted to make it memorable. In the hopes that she would go out with him again.

He knocked twice.

He tensed as soon as he heard heeled feet walking to the door. He suddenly felt that coming up to her apartment wasn't such a great idea. If he was feeling like this when he sensed her. He could imagine what would happen once she opened the door.

When she did, he wasn't disappointed.

She wore a knee-hitting, blue dress and his eyes immediately went to her legs, made longer with simple back shoes. And she wore a black cardigan over her dress. He had no idea what she did to her face, but she looked glowing and her eyes were bluer than he remembered.

To put it simply, she looked amazing. Amazingly fuckable.

_Fucking shit._

She smiled happily and brightly. His favorite smile. "Hi. You ready to-"

He hadn't meant to. He really hadn't. His feet just brought him forward and made him trap her in his arms and slam his lips on hers. Yeah, that's what happened.

She moaned as he crashed their mouths together. A sound that went right through him and made him hard as a rock instantly.

She tasted even better than last time. He could taste mint and strawbarries now.

One small hand went to the back of his neck and the other on his shoulderblades. He had her pressed against him, her breasts meshed on his broad chest and it still wasn't enough.

Not enough. Gotta get closer.

Still kissing, their tongues fighting for dominance, he walked them further into the apartment while, closing the door with his foot.

He moved his lips from hers, hearing a tiny whimper of disappointment. He growled in response, moving his kisses on her neck and shoulders, removing her cardigan hastily.

She moaned and gasped as he mouthed her breasts through her dress.

"Oh... Aidan..."

The breathless, needy way she said his name made his actions more urgent.

Somehow, they ended up on her couch.

Aidan leaned up and hovered over her. Her hair was sexy and tousled. Her lips were bee-stung from his kisses and her wide, normally clear blue eyes were dark and hazy. He could see her bra peaking out of her dress, something made all the more apparent and sensual by the heaving of her chest as she breathed heavily.

He quickly, almost angrily tore off his jacket and brought his body back down on hers. He kissed fervently and brutally, moaning at her taste and the touch of her tongue on his.

His actively seeking hands mapped out her body, revelling in her womanly shape. They went further down her frame and slipped under her dress.

He felt lace. Probably black to match her bra.

She moaned into his mouth as his fingers curled on her inner thigh. He teased, slowly making his way up...

Her moved a cup of her bra aside to take a hard peak into his hungry mouth while his busy hand cupped her through her moist panties.

Anna's startled gasp at his actions finally brought him to his senses.

Carefully covering her up, he sighed, pressing his face into her throat. "I'm sorry. I just... you look amazing." He rested his hand on her broad hip. "I couldn't help myself." He admitted softly. Truthfully.

There was a moment of silence before she responded quietly. "I know. It's okay."

...

"This is nice."

Aidan smiled at his date. "I'm glad you like it."

He had taken her to a nice, Italian restaurant. Judging by their first meeting, when Josh had cooked lasagna for her, he had pretty guessed that this was a good choice. Maggio's was a nice, neighborhood place that had been recommended to him by a nurse at the hospital, who looked visibly disappointed when he said he was taking a date there that was not her.

He gazed at Anna, who was now happily sipping a glass of red wine after taking a large bite of marinara-covered pasta. She seemed like she was enjoying herself and he liked that he had a part in that.

"The food's amazing." She moaned as she took another bite of food.

He had missed what she said next because of the thoughts put to the forefront of his mind by her moan of joy.

"Aidan?"

He snapped out of it. "Yeah?"

She twirled a meatball on her plate, avoiding his eyes. "What are you expecting out of this date?"

Her voice was small and unsure. And he didn't like it. Not one bit.

He leaned forward, grasping her hand in his. "I'm expecting a second date. And maybe a third, a fourth probably..." He added a tiny bit of playfullness to his voice to loosen her up.

It didn't work.

She stared down at their intwined hands, tightening her hold. "Your not expecting sex?" Her voice almost stammered out the last word.

Aidan leaned closer and with his other hand, held her chin up with three, strong fingers. "Maybe down the line. I'm not gonna lie. If you haven't figured it out by now, I want you. And judging by what happened at your apartment, I'm gonna have to exercise some more restraint from now on." He smiled slightly, keeping his serious gaze on hers.

"That makes me nervous."

He kissed her chastely and smiled wider. "I guess I'm gonna have to soothe you then."

...

After dinner, they walked hand-in-hand in comfortable silence. Anna was feeling the three glasses of wine she had during her meal. She felt warm and all fuzzy inside. She didn't know if it was the company or the alcohol but, she liked this feeling.

She looked at her date. Aidan, of course, was looking beyond fine tonight. He wore a black jacket with a light button up underneath and she could make out the muscles of his chest courtesy of the undone buttons on his shirt. And he also wore ass-accentuating, black pants.

_Man does have a ass._

It took her a minute to realize he was leading her into an alleyway. He pressed her against a wall, kissing her gently.

"I guess I'm gonna have to take you home now."

"I guess you do." She gazed into his dark eyes, saw his desire. His yearning there.

"I hope I'm getting a second date."

She looked down shyly and looked back up at him again. "And you shall have one."

He looked like a kid on Christmas morning after those words.

...

**A/N: Hope you liked it and weren't too disappointed. By the way, Maggio's (the restaurant in the chapter) doesn't fucking exist, so don't ask me where it is. I live in Florida, so I wouldn't have known anyway.**

**Review, review, review!**


	14. Something ElseHappy

_What is up, my people? I'm back with more story for you to enjoy. I'm doubly appreciating the feed back I recieved from my last two chapters. I especially loved the reviews over 'the date' chapter (you guys seemed particularly fond of the near-sexing in Anna's apartment in the beginning... Hehe!)._

_This chapter will take place nearly three weeks after Aidan and Anna's first date. At this point, they've gone on exactly five dates throughout those weeks. And her friendships with Sally the snarky ghost and Josh the cutie werewolf have developed as well._

_Hope you love. I own nothing!_

...

_Almost 3 weeks later..._

"No! That's not how! Jesus!"

"Then tell me how to-"

"You move the 1-"

"I did that already!"

"And then you switch the letter-"

"I did that, too!"

"Your doing it wrong!"

"Are you sure-"

"Who taught you math?"

"No one, apparently."

Josh and Aidan laughed, hearing the ruckus caused by the two women in the kitchen. Sally was in the quite difficult process of helping Anna study for a mid-term exam. An exam that involved numbers. Lots of numbers. Followed by letters. Together.

Anna's normal tutor, a girl in her study group, had come down with the flu and so, their normally scheduled study sessions were cancelled. The rest of her group, people that she sometimes referred to as 'educated assholes', had already gone on their treks of early vacation. Leaving her to find a study buddy in her ghostly best friend at the only subject she absolutely sucked at.

Last one. This is your last exam. Suck it up! The voice in her head reprimanded her.

Oh no, wait. That wasn't the voice in her head. That was Sally.

Slamming her head dramatically into her textbook, she murmured. "Five minute break, please."

She looked up at her friend's stern, narrowed eyes.

"Please..." She gave her the patented 'puppy dog eyes'.

Sighing, Sally caved. "Okay. But, you better be ready for me when I get back." And them misted out of the kitchen.

Slowly putting her head into it's previous position on her book, she heard footsteps. The familiar squeak of sneakers and smell of drugstore soap alerted her that it was Josh.

"How's the studying going?"

"As if you didn't hear." She picked her head up again, yanking a sticky note off her forehead, glaring at her friend as he chuckled.

Her eyes narrowed further. "It's not like I didn't ask someone for help before-"

He opened a beer. "Listen. College, for me, was done a while ago." He took a swig of his beer. "Besides, I don't need the flashbacks."

The brunette rolled her eyes, the move bringing her attention to the other man on the living room couch.

Aidan.

He seemed focused on whatever was on the TV in front of him, allowing her the pleasure of gazing at his strong profile, allowing a deep sigh to escape her lips.

Of course, Josh noticed. "And how's..." He gestured in that ackward way that he usually does between her and the object of her attention. "...this whole situation doing?"

She and Aidan had been dating for close to three weeks now and had been on five dates. If your the type of person that counts that sorta thing, which she is so not.

She laughed at her friend's lack of subtlety. "Situation?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, you know, the uh,... thing between you and, ah, Aidan." She noticed his gaze suddenly found his beer can fascinating.

She rolled her eyes again. "Your not my father, Josh. You can ask me an adult question."

His eyes snapped to hers. "Are you happy?"

She nodded. "Yes. I really am. It's only been a few weeks but, Aidan's, he's just..." She bowed shyly, smiling silently. "Well, he's something else, isn't he?"

The question was meant to be rhetorical but, this was Josh. "Can't say I disagree with you there." Giving her a toasting gesture with his beer.

She looked at him quietly before asking. "How are things with Nora?"

Anna laughed once more as her best friend blushed. He was just so easy sometimes.

...

Aidan tried focusing on the television in front of him. The special on lions that had gripped his attention so intensely suddenly didn't hold half of his focus as it did before.

He hadn't meant to but... okay he did. He'd heard the conversation between his best friend and _his_ Anna in the kitchen. He had gotten a similiar question on posed on him earlier by both Josh and Sally. He just told them things were fine. Which they were. It was nearing three weeks of dating between he and Anna. And he had never been so happy.

Weeks of dating and chaste contact and getting to know each other.

And nothing else.

Since the incident in her apartment on their first date, he could sense a slight change in that aspect. Sometimes he would kiss her goodnight and she would turn so, he would instead get her cheek. When he would get a a proper kiss, his attempts to deepen and further the embrace would inevitably be subtly rebuffed and she would give him a teasing smile before pulling away.

At least he thought it was teasing. Because, whether she meant to or not, he was getting teased plenty.

The one thing he knew for sure was that she was being cautious and he didn't blame her.

As for his oath to uphold control over himself, it was going... well, it was _going_, that was for damn certain.

Sometimes, he even surprised himself at his ability to be a perfect gentleman for her. All it would take was some hand-holding and a peck on the cheek and he was satisfied. While, others...

_Oh, dear God._

Other times, he had fight not to take her in a dark corner they would pass. Or a park. Or a paking _lot_. Or even a bathroom...

But, don't make him wrong. He was happy.

Happy but, screwed.

...

**A/N: Hey, hope you liked it. Just wanted a slight filler chapter for the story. And for the relationship between our favorite couple.**

**Do you seriously need me to tell you what to do next? (Hint: Starts with an 'R').**


	15. Moments In A Friendship

_Hola! Guess who is back again? Well, me of course. I really liked the response from my last chapter about the time skip and Aidan & Anna's relationship having progressed to nearly three weeks and having gone on five dates (still no sex, though). It was a lot shorter than my last chapters (I've heard no complaints but, that's what I thought!) and more of a filler chapter than anything else and I'm craping rainbows knowing you guys enjoyed it!_

_Anyhow, since I like to give equel attention to the super-awesome friendship developing between our trio of Anna, Josh, & Sally, I'll dedicate this chapter to that aspect of the story (don't worry; Aidan will at least have a little appearance, that I can promise you)._

_Love ya. Own not a thing (except Anna)._

...

1.

The first thing Anna thinks to herself and then decides to voice to Josh, as they walk together down into the basement of Suffolk County Hospital, is how creeped out she feels.

He snorts and responds evenly. "It's less cold than the woods."

She nods to herself, silently agreeing. Even though being in the cold woods and waking up in dirt naked is no walk in the park (so to speak), Anna is quite sure it's Josh who has the most issue (_"Shrinkage, Joshy?"_) but, she doesn't mind. In fact, she nearly bounced out of joy when he had announced they were gonna try the hospital basement (or 'cage', as he eloquently put it) for the first time to change.

Even though, she finds it is a little low in temperature as they move deeper into the bowels of his workplace, she is more pleased when they reach 'the room' than she had been when they transformed for the first time in that shed in the woods.

It's not _too_ impressive. She finds it has no windows and there is a small, springy cot in the corner of it. But, again, she is not gonna voice any complaints.

Anna shrugs off her sweater as he puts their stuff in a nearby cranny of the room.

"Hope you don't like it _too_ much. I mean, I can't give out this kinda luxury _all_ the time." His omnipresent sarcasm surfaces like clockwork and it's then that she realizes how comforting she finds it.

Especially, at this time of the month.

She tries finding a place to sit and settles for the cot.

Flopping on her back, she hears footsteps and sees Josh sit down with his back to her on the floor next to the cot, handing her a PB & J sandwich.

She almost half-heartedly says, 'no, thank you' but, this is a generous habit of his that she's just gotten used to. He somehow figures out that she hasn't eaten before the change. Something he's specifically, sometimes repeatedly, told her to do.

But, ultimately, her nerves and emotional state on the day of would distract her. And she would inevitably forget. Not always. But, almost always.

And he would inevitably bring an extra sandwich, just in case.

And because he's her best friend and she loves him, she says, 'thank you', instead.

After she's taken her last bite is when she starts to feel it.

She moves from the cot to lie on her back on the floor. A few seconds later, Josh shuffles his shoes off and lies next to her, mirroring her.

And it is now that the waterworks start.

Hot tears fall down her cheeks in quick succession and before she could do anything about it, there are strong, warm fingers wiping them away.

His hand leaves her face and she turns her head to smile in gratitude. He doesn't treat her small burts of emotion at times like this like something unusual but, as her way of dealing. And she's plenty grateful for that.

They look up at the ceiling in silence for a while before she breaks it. "Josh?"

"Yeah?"

"You know I love you, right?"

He chuckes warmly before responding whole-heartedly. "Yeah, mom. I love you, too."

She knows he's being geniune but, smacks his chest anyway as he laughs more at his own comment. "You idiot."

She laughs with him a bit before they fall back into their comfortable silence together. Just waiting.

...

Josh is the second one to wake up the next morning.

He wakes up on the cot covered in a quilt that smells like lavender and vanilla. The scent reminds him immediately of when he crashed for a few hours at Anna's place earlier in the week. And just like that other occasion, the scent surrounding him smells fresh from the laundry. And as he shifts, he realizes he is also lying on the blanket he brought with him. And he wonders stupidly how he got here before he looks across the room and finds the answer to his question.

Anna is already cleaned up and dressed in a fiited, plaid shirt with blue jeans and sneakers. She's got earbuds on and has a notebook in her lap with a pen that she chews in concentration.

Although, she is calmly going about her task, he could tell by the rosier hue of her cheeks that she's already cried some more after the moon the night before.

He doesn't blame her. Even after two years, he sometimes catches himself doing the same thing.

He sees his bag has been moved to the side of his makeshift bed and from beneathe the quilt, snatches it up, putting his pants on under the blanket.

Anna's obviously already seen him naked and he's pretty she got a eye-full as she dragged him to this cot but, that doesn't mean she (or he) would have entirely comfortable with it.

After his pants are on, he sits up and flings his legs on the side of the cot, pulling on a shirt as he walks over to his best friend.

She looks up as he sits next to her and smiles tiredly, taking off her buds. "Hey."

"Hey." Josh watches as she puts her music away. "Did you...?" He gestures to the tiny mattress.

"Have to drag your ass to the cot. Yes, I did. Because let me tell you, even with this added 'wolfy' strength of mine, your still pretty damn heavy, dude."

He smiles and laughs at her comment.

They sit in silence as she goes back to her notebook. A silence he breaks this time. "Thank you."

He doesn't think she's heard him until she says, 'your welcome', softly.

They both look up as they hear the door being opened and they stand when it opens fully to reveal Aidan standing there.

The vampire eyes the duo and Josh notices that his eyes linger longer on the small woman next to him.

Since they've officially started dating, it didn't take a genius to figure out the feelings between the two. Least of all, Josh. They were his best friends and the way they looked and talked about each other made the connection obvious.

He moves past his buddy first, the two sharing knowing eye contact as he walked out the door.

Josh is down the walkway from the door when he turns and sees a sight that warms his heart (shut up!).

Aidan has his arms around Anna, who's contentedly snuggling into his chest and though he's slightly far, he could almost hear her sigh of happiness.

It still amazes him how in tune the two have become. It becomes most obvious on days like these. Aidan would come get them the morning after 'the moon' and he would just know what kinda mood his girlfriend (the vamp has started referring to her as such in their conversations) is in. Somedays, she would numb, not wanting any form of contact, while others, like now, she would need all the contact she could get.

He finds nothing but, contentment for his friends as they find comfort in each other.

...

2.

Being a girl, Sally isn't even remotely shocked (but, quite pleased) to find that she's the first to know that Anna is beginning to suspect that she is in love with Aidan.

The aforementioned vampire was working a late shift at the hospital so, she, Anna, and Josh ordered a pizza, made popcorn, and popped in a stupid romantic comedy. They had done this before, just to make fun of the acting and predicable plotlines and such, the usual. Only this time, Sally couldn't help but notice how off her best friend was. Normally, Anna would make fun of the movies they watched just as much her two friends did. But, now she just seemed... quiet. One time, she peaked at her to see her teary-eyed as the male hero proposed to his lady love, something that was normally laughed at in Anna's book.

The well-known snark that accompanied the brunette was notably absent. The ghost's worry increased throughout the night and although, Josh was her closest friend, Sally has a pretty good idea that he has no clue what's going on with her. An hour into their second movie, Josh decides he wants to get ice cream, specifically Anna's favorite ice cream ("Cookies & Cream, right, Ann?") and when he shoots a knowing look at Sally, she suddenly realizes she has again underestimated her roommate and that he just knew something was wrong with their friend.

And the ghost promptly understood that it was now her duty to figure out what the hell it was.

It takes her two minutes.

She sits in silence the first minute with her normally talkative friend (another sign, if your paying attention) and asks her tentative questions like, 'how was your day?' ("Oh, you know, boring."). Or 'you feeling sick?' ("Nope."). Or 'so, the weather is-' ("Are we seriously talking about the weather, Sal?").

It is only when she asks about her relationship with Aidan that Sally knows she's got her.

There is a long pause and the air, if Sally could still breathe, would have stifled her.

Then she started crying. In earnest.

She watched helplessly as her friend tried babbling words between sobs. Sally almost wanted to reach out and rub her back but, even if she could, she doubted her friend wanted that right now.

So, she waits until her friend calms down and asks gently. "Did you have a fight?"

Her friend's breath catches but, she responses. "No."

"Did he try anything?"

"No... we haven't even... no."

"Has he hurt you?" She can't believe she just asked that but, she really is trying to rule out all possibilities. Aidan's a vampire and accidents happen.

Anna almost seems vehement at that. "No! No, no. He's been nothing but, good to me."

"I'm just trying to rule out-"

"I'm in love with him!"

Silence followed. Sally gazed at her best friend. Her red, tear-stained face. Her heaving breaths.

This didn't look like a woman in love. _This_ looked like a woman in crisis.

But, then again, it dawned on Sally that this was also a woman in love for the first time ever. "It's okay. This is a good thing."

"How is it a good thing?"

"Your in love. Love is good."

"How about being in love with someone who doesn't love you back?" She asks with such vulnerability that Sally does wish she could touch things so, that she could shove a stake up Aidan's ass to make him take back whatever it was he did or said to put her in such a mindset.

"What do you mean? Has he said anything to make you think that?"

"Well, no." Violent thoughts averted, then. "But, come on, I mean he's him and I'm me and-"

"And what? What? He's your boyfriend. And your his amazing girlfriend. He's supposed to love you back. Those are the rules. If he doesn't, he's an asshole." She revels in the choked laugh that escapes her bestie at this.

She grows serious again. "No, he's not."

Sally nods. "Okay. He's not. But, I will happily make his life hell if he's a dick about this." She says warningly.

"I'm sure you will, Sally. I'm sure you will."

...

**A/N: Well, what did you think? As I've said I really enjoy writing the friendship parts and I hope you enjoy reading them.**

**Review!**


	16. Moments In A Relationship

_Hey guys! Welcome back. I very much enjoyed writing my last chapter chronicling a little of the friendship between Anna, Josh, and Sally. I'm also glad you guys liked it so much! Now, this chapter will be the flipside of that and you'll get some tidbits in Aidan & Anna's romantic relationship told from both parties' POVs. And for people worried (I'm talking to you, Superdani!) about Aidan not returning dear Anna's feelings of love shalt not be worried. We will get a pretty clear picture (if you know what I mean) on his true feelings here (plus, more appearances by our favorite ghost and werewolf!)._

_Go on in. I own nothing (except our she-wolf, Anna)._

...

1.

Aidan felt suspicious. And worried. Not a good combination, mind you. Now you might ask why would an over 200-years-old vampire be worried about anything?

The answer lay in the form of a 5'3" brunette who had begun acting strange lately. And also incidently captured his heart (but, more on that later).

It had started with phonecalls. And her not answering them. And then acting like it didn't happen once they were face-to-face.

His feelings increased when she started cancelling plans without good reasons. Then looking visibly nervous when he would ask her about it. And with no comfirmation what so ever, he knew, just knew, that Josh and Sally had an idea that something was going on with his girl (no, your not mistaken, he said his) and he wanted, needed really, to find out what it was.

He had gone down to breakfast (or 'morning blood', whatever you wanna call it!) to see the typical scene of his two roommates chatting away and talking over each other. It all seemed fine.

Until he walked in.

His friends greeted him as they usually did but, all to quickly, went to take their leave.

He wasn't having it, though.

"Josh. Sally."

They both stopped in their tracks and turned to face him, looking wide-eyed (well, Josh looked like that all the time but, hey) but, it was the normally game-faced Sally's look that made him more antsy.

"What's going on with you two?"

Then, they both tried babbling answers at the same time, which just irritated him.

"Okay, okay. Stop." He demanded.

They stopped.

"Is this about Anna?" He looked at them closely to gauge their reactions.

To her credit, Sally kept a good poker-face. Josh, on the other hand, not so much. His eyes widened further and he went red like a damn tomato.

Bingo.

"Has she, uh... told you guys anything?" He made sure to let a little of his insecurity show in his voice. "About me? About us?"

His two friends looked at him silently, both looking torn.

"Is she seeing someone else?" Because if she was, he was track that person down. And kill him. No, torture first. And then, some killing.

They nodded. Negative.

"Does she not wanna see me anymore?" He tried to take his mind off the way he felt slight gut-shot at the thought of her leaving him.

They nodded again. No.

He nodded to himself, relieved but, not feeling any better. "Okay. Do you guys have anything to say?"

They looked down at the floor guiltily.

Feeling heavier, he grabbed his stuff and left.

That very same day, she began answering his calls again.

...

2.

"Are you seeing someone else?"

Anna almost spat out her beer at his question. They were on a date at the bar near his place and he was teaching her a game of pool when he had asked her this random and utterly ridiculous question.

"No. Why would you ask me that?" She hadn't meant to sound so angry but, you would think your boyfriend of two months would know better, right?

He met her accusatory eyes. "I don't know. You tell me."

She sighed to herself. Truth be told, she was starting to feel pretty aweful. She'd just figured out she was in love with him and didn't know what to do with that new knowledge. He was over 200-years-old and had probably several relationships too numerous to list. And she was 21 and still a virgin. Hadn't even kissed anyone before him. What would he say exactly if she suddenly spilled her feelings for him? He was probably already used to having people fall in love with him (or at least want him).

She really did not want to avoid him. But, it just ended up that way.

"I'm not seeing anyone else." She met his eye again. "Because I have a boyfriend, who should know better than to ask me that."

He looked deflated and she felt even worse.

One of the things they managed to share easily was good conversation. And now, she was yanking that away and felt terrible about it. She knew it was bad enough she was already denying him physical affection (the biggest form of intimacy was sleeping on the same bed together) and yet, she had an idea she was driving him crazy.

Trying make up for her behavior, she put down her pool cue and moved closer to him and kissed him on the cheek.

He smiled down at her.

...

3.

They ended up at his place and had been watching TV when she suddenly crawled on his lap and kissed him. He immediately kissed back, ignoring the television in front of them.

Gripping the back of her head, he quickly took off the elastic tying her hair up, dark hair curtaining his face as she leaned closer into him. He ran fingers through her hair as she sighed happily into their embrace, her tongue meeting his enthusiastically, her hips starting to rock against his teasingly.

He groaned at the sensation, moving his lips down her inviting neck and her nice collarbone, nibbling a little at her pulse points.

She moaned softly at his actions, rolling her hips into his erection. He growled in warning. "Anna..."

"Aidan..." She moaned his name. Repeating it like a prayer on her lips as he flipped them over, kissing her passionately and damn near pornographically, a large hand wandering down her curves, finding the buttons to her jeans.

As he flicked it open, she started. "Aidan, wait-"

He stopped his kisses but, kept his hands moving, looking into her eyes intensely. "It's okay. Just..." Keeping her eyes on his, he continued undoing her pants, slowly sliding down her zipper. "...Let me do this. Let me touch you." And without warning, he did just that, his cold hand going beneathe her jeans, cupping her heated mound.

He kept his hand still, trying to control himself, the fire he was sure to find further down between her legs making him crazy. He gazed tenderly down at her as she held her breath, keeping it held as he moved his hand lower... lower... lower

She gasped wildly as his knuckles brushed against her center. He groaned as he felt how wet she was as she yanked his head down, slamming her lips onto hers, their tongues immediately finding each other.

He kissed her deeply as he slid a careful finger inside her, surprising himself by his own moan of approval at what he found there.

Despite being wet and ready, she was also very,_ very_ tight. It had been a long time since he'd encountered this kinda fit before and he growled into their kiss as he thought about what she would feel like when finally wrapped around his cock, the appendage in question hardening as a result of his thoughts.

He began slowly, sliding in and out of her slippery folds.

"Ohhh..." The noises coming out of the woman beneathe him spurred him on. "Oh my god... Aidan!"

He kissed a trail down her cheek where tears spilled, whispering in her ear. "Shhh."

She began bucking against his hand and he found her mouth again gently, pulling away as he felt her clenching around his diligent fingers, seeing her eyes begin to flutter. "No." He demanded softly. "Look at me."

They sprang open again, her wide and slightly frightened blue eyes meeting his dark ones. "Just let go." He increased his pace, fingers getting deeper inside her heat. He put his forehead on hers and said the words he'd been wanting to say for the past couple of weeks.

"I love you."

Her eyes widened more and she pulled his head down again, the kiss full of so many emotions from them both.

And like a shot, she came, moaning and gasping loudly in his mouth. He smelled the sweetness of her release and he had to fight to stop himself from bringing his fingers to his lips and tasting her essense.

He layed his head on her chest, hearing her loudly racing heartbeat as she tried calming down, her small body shaking slightly as she came back down to earth.

There. After giving her a good taste of her first sexual experience, he had confessed his love for her.

He felt truly happy now.

...

**A/N: Haha! Nice ender, yes? I'll appreciate your honesty very much. Thanks for reading!**

**Reviews are like candy to me!**


	17. Not Said

_Howdy! Back with more treats. Was just reading over my last chapter when our boy, Aidan, gives virgin she-wolf Anna a glorious 'first release' of sorts. I've also read the feedback as a result of that and am overjoyed that everyone who's read it loved it. I also got a message from one of my readers stating they liked that he gave her her first 'O' and wanted nothing in return, saying that was the mark of love right there (and come to think of it, it kind of is, isn't it?)._

_Whatever. Enjoy. Read. Love. Do what it is you do._

_I own nothing (but, I'm still pimping Anna for all she's worth... don't judge!)._

...

Anna tossed and turned once more in her bed, her nightgown clinging to her sweaty skin.

_Ugh, gross._

She felt restless. Discomboblated. And majorly,_ uncomfortably_ horny.

It really put new meaning to the term, 'bitch in heat'.

_Goddamit!_

Her mind predicably drifted to her and Aidan's couch escapades last week. As well as the really satisfying end to said escapades.

_The way he looked at me..._

_His addictive touch..._

_Those talented fingers..._

_Her release..._

She shut her eyes tightly and breathed deeply through her nose, her hands gripping her sheets as she felt that now familiar spike of arousal shoot through her.

_The way he said 'I love you'..._

Anna's heart bloomed at that thought.

She still couldn't believe it. He loved her. He. Loved. Her. A gorgeous, sexy, adonis-like man wanted and loved her. And any kinda doubt that she was in love with him faded the moment he said the words to her.

She hadn't told him that, though.

Through her haze of lust and much needed recovery time, she had remained quiet. The only sound being heard was the sound of her rapid heart slowing after her brain-stupifying climax.

God, if she felt like that after he just... _touched_ her, well...

Anna squeezed her thighs together at the thought of how much more time she would need after they did have sex.

_A half-hour, maybe._

She remembered grinding onto his lap, breath hitching as she suddenly found herself pushing down onto a big, very hard bulge.

_Make it two._

She never was any good at numbers.

...

Aidan went about his day as nicely as he could, his normally impeccable acting skills when it came to covering his real moods not helping him today. If people could smell his mood, he would probably, no definitely, reek of fustration, love, and sexual yearning. After what happened with Anna that week ago, it had been like this.

He had given her a taste of what sex would be like for them and had also confessed that he loved her.

And she hadn't said it back.

Of course, she was in the middle of recovering from what he'd done to her and when he said it, he wasn't expecting anything in return, he just wanted to let her know how he felt.

For good measure, he had whispered it again into her throat and heard her sigh happily and curling her fingers into his hair, say breathlessly. _"I know."_

After that, he hadn't said it again.

He wasn't mad or upset. In fact, it was entirely the opposite. He was happy. Ridiculously and deeply happy. He hadn't so in love with someone like her in such a long time that he could barely contain himself.

Actually, he could. He was right now, anyway.

He felt a mix of bliss and depression. Not a good mix, ladies and gentlemen.

He walked purposefully into the hospital cafeteria, hoping to grab his faux lunch and sit down in peace.

No such luck.

The moment he had his food ready and went to sit down, he spotted movement from the corner of his eye. Familiar movement.

"Hey, dude." His best friend plopped down across him.

"Josh."

Not that he wasn't glad to see Josh but, he really wanted to be alone with his thoughts.

As if reading his mind, the werewolf inquired. "Something bothering you?"

He shook his head sourly. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"So, there is something."

"Look, Josh-"

"Luck for me, Ann talks to me more than you." The younger man took a loud bite out of an apple.

He glared at him before looking away, sighing heavily. "Dammit."

"Aidan, dude, relax. You told her you 'I love you'. That's supposed to be good news. At least I think it is."

He was surprised at his friend's laid-back reaction towards this piece of news. "Why the hell did she tell you anyway?"

Aidan didn't mean to sound so harsh but, he felt a little jealous that the woman he loved (_god, that sounded nice_) was conversing the private matter of their feelings. Nevermind, that it was _Josh_.

"Um, well, let's see, hmmm..." He paused, pretending to think a second before countering. "I'm her best friend and your best friend. Why the hell do you think, Count Choc-"

"Don't. Even. Say it." He warned, his voice low and deadly.

His friend paused and looked at him silently. "Your right, sorry, forgive me?"

"Yeah, sure, why not?"

...

**A/N: Odd ending but, I wanted to end with something of an implied inside joke between our two boys. Aren't Josh and Aidan adorable in scenes together? I mean really. Huntington and Witwer are an awesome team. **

**Review!**


	18. Tell Me

_Hey ya guys! I know it seems very soon for an update but, I couldn't help myself. I was just thinking about how I've written Aidan and Anna's relationship so far and I couldn't be bothered to wait any longer. And I also know I've fustrated a number of you guys with the long wait of their first time together (nno, not playing poker; a little more biblical than that) and I apologize for that. In fact, this very chapter is a major milestone in stepping towards that direction (especially for Anna) and I can honestly say I'm glad I've gotten this far because I, too, have become fustrated by the lack of action... ironic, yes?_

_Anyhow, here goes. Read if you dare._

_I don't own anything (Anna, get back here!)._

...

Aidan found himself sitting alone in the hospital cafeteria. It was Josh's day off and he had no doubt he was spending that time at home with Sally. Laughing about stupid shit. Thinking of new recipes to cook for dinner tonight. Or both.

His mind then drifted to the person who now seemed to occupy his thoughts now more than ever.

Anna.

She had asked for space and he was giving it to her. But, god, he missed her so much. He felt like a pussy just thinking about it.

He remembered the text he'd recieved from her:

_I'm sorry. I need space._

_I'm sorry?_ Really. He had told her he loved her and she was doing this to him. It hadn't occured to him until right now, two weeks into their 'separation' of sorts, how much he was really willing to give to this woman and how much she held his heart soo tightly in her little hands.

Either she was scared of her own feelings or didn't give a damn about his.

Either way, he knew he had to see her soon or he would go insane. A little visit to the blood den had started becoming quite appealing in his eyes during these past weeks.

But, he fought the temptation.

Because that's exactly what it was. Temptation. Going to feed on those women at the den would have been something akin to cheating on her (at least to him). Even if he had gone and then confessed to her and she had forgiven him, he still wouldn't want to look himself in the mirror.

And the thing is... the thing is he no longer craved the willingly given blood at that place. He craved _her_. He craved _his _Anna. He craved the contentment he felt whenever she was in the same room with him. The way she looked at him, like he was a good man who deserved her. Who was _worthy_ of her.

He was so, unbearably, deeply, and _terribly_ in love with her. And he hoped against hope that she felt an iorta of what he did.

Because he had no idea what he would do if she didn't.

...

"Are you planning on seeing him soon?"

Anna was startled out of her musings as she sat at her bar stool gazing at her oven, hoping it dinged sometime soon so she can get her hands on some chocolate-chip goodness.

She spun in her stool, facing Josh, who sat on her couch with Sally, both of them looking at her with critical eyes. "See who?"

The older werewolf sighed. "Anna..."

_Oh, he's being serious now._

She had gotten so used Josh calling her Ann. Even when he was being stern or overly protective he stuck with Ann. Yet, she knew he was being very, very serious if he called her Anna.

She was then saved by the bell. Or ding. Whichever.

Anna got off her stool, simultaneously distracting her emotions and diliberately ignoring her best friend's question.

He wasn't having it though.

"Anna..."

She heard shuffling of feet.

"Anna..."

She ignored, bending down and carefully removing the tray full of freshly baked cookies with her mitted hands.

A tray she promptly almost dropped thanks to Sally's sudden appearance in front of her. "Jesus!"

The ghost cocked a brow, hands on her hips. "You need to see him."

Anna didn't bother asking 'why?' or 'who is this him you speak of?'. She knew. And was secretly thankful to her friends that they hadn't said his name. She didn't need to hear it. Didn't need to hear how bad he was feeling because of her. She felt gulity enough as it is.

Though it wasn't really necessary, she walked around her friend to put her hot tray onto her counter. "Cookies are done. Dig in."

Josh stood in front of the counter, a sad expression on his face. "Anna, please. He's beat up. He misses you." He leaned closer, voice dropping. "He loves you."

"Yeah! He loves you and your totally in love with him. So, you should. Go. See. Him." Sally agreed behind her.

Again, she'd never meant to avoid him. And a damn text message was an aweful way of telling him she needed 'space'.

And she did need space. And time. To think over her feelings. And she had come to the obvious and very sure conclusion that she was in love with him and wanted him like nothing else.

Now, she just needed to tell him that.

Grabbing her purse, her moment clearer than it had ever been, she headed out the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Out. Enjoy the cookies."

...

It was late and Aidan really wanted to go home so, he could wallow like a normal person instead of letting it hang the fuck out at his workplace.

He said goodbye to the charge nurse before he headed down the hall, intent on changing and going on his miserly way.

And when he turned a corner, he stopped in his tracks.

She looked like a mess. A stunning mess. She wore a blue long-sleeved shirt and jeans. Her hair was tousled and hung loosely around her face. And as he stepped closer to her, he saw she'd looked like she had been crying.

He spoke evenly. "Anna, what are you-"

"I wanted to see you." Her voice sounded slightly husky with tears and he felt his gut tighten. "I just... I felt stupid for staying away for these two weeks. I, um..." She looked down at her feet, sniffling. "I missed you." Her voice came out as a whisper.

She looked up at him with deep blue, watery eyes. "I am sorry. I got scared and I have no experience this 'relationship stuff'." She put quotations with her fingers on that phrase. "And I felt like I didn't have any business being loved by someone like you. That I don't deserve you. And I wasn't worth your time or affection or..." She looked down again and he fought not to grip her chin and make her look at him. "...anything, really."

She looked back up at him again, a new confidence. "And I also wanted to tell you something that I should have said the minute you told me you loved me." He noticed her voice became more emotional when she said that.

He closed the distance between them, gazing into her eyes. "Tell me." He demanded softly.

She looked at him through dark, wet lashes and he felt the tell-tale pull inside him. Though, he had been more or less focusing on the emotional aspect of their relationship it didn't mean his mind did not wander to... other things.

He'd forgotten this. He'd forgotten how much she tempted him.

Her blue eyes flickered to his lips and the shallow breath she took told him she was feeling it, too. "You have to kiss me first."

Her soft request he couldn't refuse.

He stepped closer, his hand landing on her cheek as her eyes fluttered at his touch. Jesus, it felt like forever since he'd last touched her.

He slowly brought his lips to hers while his other arm found her tiny waist, pressing her to him. "I've missed you, too." He whispered as his lips pressed against hers finally.

She breathed into his mouth, opening up to him and he groaned as her smell and taste invaded his senses. Her tongue cautiously slipped into his mouth and he reciprocated the gesture, both moaning at the re-discovery of each other.

He pressed her closer, using the back of her head to tilt her just right, deepening the kiss. When she whimpered at this, he found himself come back to reality and gently pulled from the kiss, though keeping her in her rightful place in his arms, leaning his forehead against hers. "Now, tell me."

She looked at him with dark, glimmering pools of feeling. "I love you, Aidan."

This time when he kissed her, he didn't hold back.

...

**A/N: Hope you liked it. Please, please review!**


	19. Tonight's The Night

...

"Your nervous." Aidan noted with a sure certainty in his lowered voice that he knew affected her quite efficiently.

"What? No, I'm..." Anna cleared her throat, tucking her hair behind quickly in that cute way she did when she was indeed nervous. "...I am not nervous. I'm fine, thank you."

He eyed her dress. The dress he'd asked her to wear tonight. The same dress she had worn the night they met. A dark, housedress-looking thing patterned with small flowers on it that reached her knees, again giving him a great view of her legs. Legs he would have wrapped around his waist very, very soon.

He subtly licked his lips as his eyes found the decent, mouth-watering amount of cleavage that the dress made even more appealing to his exploring gaze. "Yes, you are."

Aidan almost felt bad for his girlfriend's ill-fated outfit because he the poor dress was gonna look completely unwearable by the end of the night.

He would make sure of it.

He looked at the way it simultaneously hugged and flowed nicely around the strong broadness of her hips and the slight curve and fullness of her ass.

_Maybe I'll buy her another one._

"Very fine, in fact."

The lustful impact of his compliment did not go unnoticed as the woman next to him sent him an annoyed look to cover up the hitching of breath he knows he heard. "Really? Just because your getting some tonight does not mean you gotta be all nasty-"

He cut her off with a deep, belly laugh. "Nasty? Baby, just wait until we get to your place and you'll know exactly how nasty I can be with my words. Believe me." He grabbed her hand, kissing the back of it. The gentlemenly gesture contrasting with his words.

They began walking again silence, holding hands before he reiterated. "And you are nervous."

He chuckled as she scoffed.

When she had decided she was ready (he'd been ready for her since they met, hello!), she had sent him a text simply saying:

_'Tonight's the night. My place. Love you, bye.'_

He'd had Josh with him in the cafeteria at the time and had stared blankly at the words, unable to properly process thought for five minutes.

It was just so direct yet, soo discreet.

Leave it to her, right?

When his best friend finally got his full attention, he simply turned over his phone to show him her message.

Josh had smiled widely and knowing, high-fiving him like he just won a damn super-bowl. Which, he guessed, he did. _Finally_.

He was well and truely in love with this woman.

And tonight he was gonna show her.

For several, _uninterrupted_ hours.

Oh, yes. He had won. A whole, _whole_ lot.

...

**A/N: Okay. So, our couple is finally getting lucky (do I even need to ask which one is more luckiest? Seriously?). It's short, though. I find it shameful to put in the same category as a chapter, it's _soo_ goddammit short. Excerpt. I'll call it an excerpt. That's what I'll do.**

**Anyway, just wanted to give a little tease about the coming chapter that'll be chock-full of action. If you know what I'm saying *wink, wink*.**

**I'm stupid, I know. Reviews will pay for my meds.**


	20. Finally

**Warning:**_ Sex. Okay. Sex! Of all kinds. Don't like. Do not read._

_If you do like, well... get ready for a cold shower._

...

"Okay. Wait. I've got this. Let me just..."

Anna cursed under her breath as her hands, that shook slightly against her will, almost dropped her keys. Again.

Aidan seemed amused, though.

She heard a faint chuckle behind her before feeling a larger body press against her back, a pale hand moving around her to gently grab her keys out of her uncooperative hands and quickly putting it in the locked doorknob that clicked open.

She barely moved, suddenly frozen on the spot, her senses still on a high from his masculine smell alone. The fact that she knew what was gonna happen, at least on the surface, tonight didn't help, either.

Then, with a diliberate slow kiss on her cheek, he moved away.

And she snapped out of it.

_Yeah, snap out of it before you embrrass yourself, goddammit._

She breathed in and out slowly as they walked into her apartment. This was home. Her domain. She felt more at ease already.

But, the much needed confidence still had _yet_ to arrive.

"Still nervous?" She turned to see him closing her door, locking it, and leaning against it, folding his impressive arms across his chest.

And she couldn't help but notice just _how _impressive and slightly intimidating he looked.

Just like he had immediately told her to wear what he wanted. So had she.

On one occasion at his, Josh, and Sally's house, she was godsmacked by desire when he greeted her in a long-sleeved, black (of course) button-up. It didn't reveal as much as his casual shirts or as tightly fitted as his sweaters but, hey, it got her attention.

So, as a result, she had requested (by that she meant demanded) he wear the memorable piece of clothing for tonight. Their first night together.

A night that would not involve fustrating, half-assed make-out sessions or promises of pleasure (god, she still couldn't look at neither her or his couch without blushing).

Tonight, she was gonna have sex for the first time.

With someone she loved. And who loved her back.

And was also over 200-years-old and had immense experience at his disposal.

_Well, so much for relaxing._

"Do you even need to ask?" He sauntered over (okay, he just walked but, the man _just_ moved well) to her, an easy, comforting grin on his handsome face.

"So, your finally admitting you are?" Still maintaining a one-too far distance from her, he reached out and palmed her cheek, the cool broadness of his hand cradling her face lovingly, causing her eyes to flutter.

"How could I not be?" She evaded breathlessly as he slowly closed the distance between them, the air suddenly heavy and tension-filled around them.

Her eyes closed completely when his other hand brushed against her hip before he gripped it, pressing his fingers into the light fabric, the hold strong enough to bruise but, gentle enough not to hurt.

"Look at me." He commanded softly. Her eyes opened slowly.

Anna instinctively had an idea that it was a warning. A warning that he could be both gentle and possessive in one shot. The smile on his face had disappeared and had been replaced with a hungry, lustful look.

The arousal and fear that surrounded her at the thought was startling to say the least as he moved her head back, baring the arch of her pale throat. "Aidan-" She barely managed to squeak out in surprise as his cold lips made contact with her warm skin.

He tightened his grip on her hair, placing wet, open kisses on her neck. "Are you scared of me?" His voice came out slightly muffled as he did not remove his mouth from her skin, but she understood.

Aroused, frightened, and completely at his mercy, she said the only thing she could. "I-I don't wanna be." She exhaled sharply as he nipped her below her ear. "But, uh... I... ahh... trust you."

He bit her earlobe with strong, blunt teeth, making her hands on his chest move to his shoulders, gripping his built frame before kissing his way up her cheek all the way to her lips where he gave her a slow, drugging, lustful kiss that made her body heat up and her knees weaker.

He licked the roof of her mouth, both his arms circling around her small body.

He moved his mouth down her neck, to her collarbone, her cleavage as he unbuttoned the top of her dress, his hands coming to play with her twins through her dress, murmuring huskily. "You have amazing breasts." While, sliding his tongue between the objects of his attention.

Her mouth fell open and her face heated in, what she was sure to be, a furious blush. It wasn't too much coming from him. It wasn't _'your tits are hot'_ or the favorite _'you've got great boobs, baby'_.

No. He said_ 'you have amazing breasts'_. Not nice. Not hot. _Amazing_.

And he said it with such reverance that she was momentarily awed by her ability to prompt such a reaction from a man like him. A 257-year-old, vampire of a man, that is. Who's already seen breats of several varieties. Of that she was sure.

His lips were at her stomach when she responded. "_Ah_, thank you." Her voice was breathy and the words ackward coming from her mouth.

It was then, when he chuckled close to her flesh, that she looked down and saw exactly where his mouth was, uh... _situated _at.

_Is he really gonna...?_

The feel of his hands bunging up the material of her dress was her answer.

"It was my pleasure." And without warning or before she could stop him (because, she so totally wanted to stop him at this point. _Right._) his mouth descended onto her, licking around the outside of her smooth bikini line, scraping his teeth on the lace of her panties. She barely contained a moan as he probed her core straight through her undies, his tongue so damn determined it could of broken a hole through them if he so chose.

His strong hands tugged her closer onto his energetic mouth and her legs almost collapsed beneathe her when his tongue nearly went under her panties and she was thankful that she'd chosen slightly skimpier panties than she usually did.

He feasted vigorously as she began panting, her body jerking at his ministrations.

"_Ohhh_... oh my god." She moaned, boldly thrusting her hips forward in his grip and then nearly lost it completely when he moaned into her heated, now soaked underwear.

Then, he stopped.

And the next thing she knew, Anna was swept in large arms and a suddenly warm tongue down her throat, her legs dangling from his strong forearms.

He tasted slightly different then and it took her a minute to realize she was actually _tasting herself_ on him; a slight fruity sweetness.

It was a small change and it, surprisingly, didn't bother her and she moaned into his mouth.

Her mind spun and she was quite sure her equilibrium was off as he began walking them to the open door that led to her bedroom and kicking the door shut behind them.

...

After shutting the door behind them, Aidan carried Anna to her bed, simultaneously taking in his surroundings. He'd only seen her bedroom once before and that was only a slight peek from the living room when she'd rushed in to grab something before one of their dates. It was nice. Cozy. Exactly what he would think it to look. The walls were cream-colored with two nightstands on either side of a comfy-looking, queen-sized bed that held a brown and cream-hued bed & pillow set.

His attention was brought back to the woman in his arms when she began kissing along his jawline, affectionately laving the area with loving pecks and a few nips before he turned his head and captured her lips in a passionate kiss, setting her down on her bed.

He pulled away, feeling a tinge of male pride when she whimpered and blindly tried to follow his mouth with her own.

When she opened her eyes again, he saw a pair of deep sapphire eyes staring up at him.

He peered closely at her as he went on his knees in front of her, reaching out and undoing more of the top buttons of her dress, revealing more of the lingerie-clad, pale swells of her breasts to his feasting eyes. He leaned in and kissed the revealed cleavage, hearing her gasp as he did so, moving his lips upward and back to her own lips.

He carefully leaned over her until her body layed onto her mattress and gently pulled back again. He gazed down at her messy, tousled hair and hazy eyes, the realization that - god, this is actually happening finally - hitting him hard like a thousand bricks. He was gonna do this. He was gonna make love to the woman he loved. He was gonna take her virginity.

The sudden change in his face must have caught her attention because she looked at him in concern. "Aidan, are you okay?"

He didn't answer but, covered her body with his, kissing her for the millionth time that time, starting softly and letting it escalate to the point where she moaned eagerly in his embrace and one of her legs went instinctively around his hip, accidently bringing his hardness into contact with the juncture between her thighs as her hands went to the buttons on his shirt.

He yanked himself away from her mouth to keep his head clear, taking a breath he didn't necessarily need through his nose to calm down before looking down at her again. "I love you."

Since she had said it back to him, there would be a text, the occasional call, and they would tell the sentiment to each but, nothing. Nothing was better than saying to her face "I love you, too."

They shared an affectionate smile as he leaned down to her again, butting his nose playfully against hers and giving her a small buss on her pouty lips that turned into a slow, tender kiss that then turned into a far more passionate, steamy tongue-filled exploration.

And just like that, it was time to play again.

He groaned as she unconsciously circling her hips against his erection, making him harder. Still kissing her, he fully unbuttoned his shirt and let it fall wherever it flew in the room, the woman beneathe him moaning louder as his cold bare met her bra-incased breasts.

He begrudgingly pulled himself up and hovered over her tempting form, meeting her eyes intently as he reached out and gripped the material of her dress... then ripped it right down the middle.

Her face was priceless. A cross of horror and shock settled on her pretty features. "Aidan!"

He lustfully took in the delicate white & pink lingerie set as he slowly lid his hand from between her breasts down to her flat stomach to her underwear then...

_Oh._

She grabbed the bedsheets on either side of her as he slipped two fingers inside her searing wetness and her helpless gasp was silenced by his mouth tangling in hers as they shared lusty, extremely greedy kiss.

He continued his ministrations, easily locating her inflamed nub and manipulating it with his thumb until she cried out. "Ahh...!"

He moved further in as she writhed on his hand and felt his fingers hit the bud of spongey flesh that he quickly bypassed as he slipped his fingers back out again, ignoring her whine of disappointment. "Aidan... that wasn't... that wasn't nice!" She pouted prettily at him and he grinned.

He didn't bother feeling offended because he knew she wasn't talking about what he just did to her but, rather that he stopped.

"Sorry, sweetheart, but your not cumming without me." He warned as he went for his beltbuckle.

She then had the audacity to blush and gulped visibly. "I-I'm not?" She sounded confused and excited. And suddenly looked nervous again as he slipped off his belt and started unbuttoning his pants.

He then dropped his pants, leaving her to look at he was pretty sure to be a large proof of his excitement through his boxer-briefs.

He gazed down at her own state of undress. "Beautiful." He whispered sincerely. Reverently.

His hard member jolted as she blushed at his words and moved to cover herself. "Don't do that." He demanded, frowning at her gesture.

She looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. "Aidan-"

"No."

Her hands went to her side, nervously picking at the material of her ruined dress, the darker color of it contrasting with her porcelain skin and pink underwear.

Need flared strongly inside him and without preamble, he scooted on the bed as she moved backward on her hands.

She stopped and layed back on her pillow and he pulled down the comforter to the end of the bed, then moving the tattered dress from her body completely, leaning down to kiss her softly before moving down to between her cleavage, laving the area with his tongue and continuing down her stomach, making her wiggle impatiently as he reached the line of her panties, inhaling her arousal.

Hooking his hands on either side of the slinky material he slowly began moving them up her thighs and flung the panties behind him. He then carefully and gently yet, firmly spread her legs, moving downward, now at eye level with her bareness.

And it was _bare_.

When he'd touched her those few weeks ago, he had felt a nicely trimed thatch of hair as he felt around there and now, he could see what had changed.

She'd waxed. Or at least done something akin to waxing because the triangle of hair he had found there once was gone and his mouth watered at the naked flesh of his prize at the ready, her folds glistening with her need and the heady smell making his head spin. He closed his eyes and leaned in, taking one long, slow lick straight up the middle. Her muscles tensed in response and she cried out, the sound music to his ears.

"Aidan!"

He pressed a strong hand on her stomach to calm her as he went to work. This time, he licked around her entrance, drinking in her virginal flavor, her scent and she moaned in surprise._ "Ahh..."_

Slowly and gently, he licked upward again before cautiously thrusting his tongue in, going deeper and deeper as he could and wiggled around , enjoyning the way the tight muscles became pliant under his skilled tongue, clutching at him, trying to take him farther within. He moaned inside her and the she spasmed, jerking in instinctive response, small hands clutching at her bedsheets in ecstasy.

He added a finger, keeping his movements in perfect sync with his mouth.

_"Ohhh...!"_

When she began rolling her hips, he easily matched her rhythm, pleasuring her with his hand while, his mouth went for the rigid button of her nub. As soon as he flicked her, her hips jerked and she moaned loudly.

_Atta girl._

"That's right. Come on." He encouraged her gruffly, incrediably turned on by the way she was writhing in his grip.

He went back to work, adding another finger as he nipped, sucked, and nibbled at her clit. Her thighs clenched around his head as he placed her legs on his shoulders. She pulled him closer and closer until his whole world just revolved around the feel, smell, and magnificent taste of her. He scraped his teeth over her sensitive button and felt her spasm again. He did it again and again until her insides were sucking him in and she unexpectedly started bucking against his mouth.

He lapped gently at her juices as she came, yelling her release._ "Ahhh!"_

He wiped her clean with his mouth, humming and enjoying her, keeping his attentions soft as she came down from her orgasm.

He kissed upward this time, the muscles in her abdomen jumping under his mouth, until he ended up back to her lips and he kissed her deeply. Full of feeling.

He pulled up again and gazed down at her, letting her see how much she affected him. She looked back with a tenderness in her eyes and for a moment, it almost pained him to realize how much he wanted her. How much he needed her.

Then he slowly, he skillfully but, quietly shifted so, that he could remove his own underwear, the rustling of the material being kicked off his body the only sound being heard in the otherwise intimate, quiet atmosphere.

Still staring at her, he took her hand and kissed the fingertips of it before slowly moving it between their bodies right near his erection, the warmth of her hand so close making him burn.

He spoke in a hushed whisper. "Go ahead. Have a feel."

He was close enough to embrace her but, lifted slightly so when she looked down there and quickly yanked her eyes away, blushing furiously in an appealing shade of red and stammered breathlessly, "Oh my god." He grinned.

The grin disappeared completely and a choked sound escaped him as she touched him tentatively, tiny fingers trying to and failing to wrap around his long, thick shaft.

When she carefully brushed against his tip, he growled, making her freeze, looking at him doe-eyed.

Putting his larger hand over hers on his hardness, he helped move himself right at her entrance, circling and nugging her sensitive nub, a groan escaping him at the same time a gasping cry was pulled out of her mouth that he silenced with his own mouth.

He circled his hips again and she cried out again before their lips met in a passionate, lust-and-love filled kiss and he slowly slipped inside her opening.

She pulled away from the kiss, gasping as he grunted at the feel of her. Unique. Hot. Wet. And _oh so very _tight.

He looked down at her, her face had paled somewhat and her eyes glimmered with tears. He leaned down and kissed her again as he moved forward in one thrust, breaking the thin barrier that maintained her chastity.

She yanked away again and yelped, the tears spilling onto her cheeks as she shut her eyes tight, fighting the pain he knew she felt. And although she felt like the tightest of heaven, he cursed himself for causing her this pain, though it was inevitable, being her first time and all.

He kissed both her cheeks, smoothing away her tears with his thumbs and kissed her softly. Sweetly. "Shhh..."

He held still, waiting for her to accomedate to him. "Hey, look at me."

She nodded, her eyes screwed shut in silent agony. "Anna, baby, look at me." He demanded strongly.

Her eyes blinked open, fluttering to reveal watery, dark blues. "It hurts." Her voice sounded strained.

He spoke soothingly, comforting her. "I know. Just relax for me, okay?" He subtly moved his hips and a sharp breath escaped her. "It's okay." He kissed her again as she began relaxing around him. "I won't hurt you." His fingers trailed on her cheek. "I love you."

Her eyes widened further and then shut again as she moved against him, this time in pleasure.

He moaned as she did so and it began.

They gazed into each other's eyes and didn't speak, matching the rhythm of bodies as they undulated and danced as one. Finally. They went slow then picked up speed altogether as Aidan thrusted home and filled her. Claiming her for the first time.

His head dropped on her shoulder as they moved together, picking up more speed.

_I love you. I want you. I need you._ The mantra rang clearly in his head and he put all his feelings into the kiss they shared next, groaning heavily in her embrace.

She arched up, locking her ankles behind his back, gasping as her inner muscles clamped tightly around him and spasmed her release, crying out. "Aidan!"

And that triggerd his own climax.

"Anna." He called out with the power of the moment as he swelled and throbbed, finally erupting inside her.

When he collapsed on her, he felt her wrap her arms around him, cupping the back of his head and stroke his hair gently.

After a moment, Aidan rolled to the side and she rolled on top of him, burying her face in his chest, circling her arms tightly around him.

He smiled as baby snores escaped her after a few seconds. He was nowhere near finished with her but, for now he would let her rest.

...

**A/N: Okay. Give it to me straight. This one was a long time in the making in my mind and for the first time since I started writing smut, I feel embarrassed. I'll admit it.**

**You know what to do.**


	21. Lovers

...

The first thing Anna thought when she stirred from slumber was - _God, I feel sore!_ - and that it really didn't bother her that much. She'd felt different types of soreness before; falling off a bike; a few fights; that time of the month. But, this...

This was all together extremely different. Like she'd never known before.

It was simultaneously uncomfortable and really amazing!

She also felt groggier than usual and relaxed. Her muscles felt dissolved and useless. Her mind foggy with a kind of new bliss.

Before she could even begin to question why she was feeling this way, she was suddenly bombarded with memories at the same time a cold finger made it's way down her spine, the bedsheet covering her being pulled slowly down her back.

Anna shivered at the touch, her body immediately responding to the familiarity of the strong digit's owner before her brain could completely catch up.

Aidan.

The next thing she knew the finger was switched with a tongue. A very familiar tongue that skillfully laved down her back, causing tingles to erupt on every freakin' place on her body.

"Mmm... Aidan." She murmured sleepily, her senses coming alive under his touch.

The tongue swept up the length of her, landing on her shoulderblades before she felt the sheet that had been tugged down to her ass being removed completely from her body.

"Aidan." She half-heartedly protested. She was way too out of it to really be bothered but, was self-conscious enough to realize how close his face was to her behind.

"Shhh..." She then felt his hard frome press to her back. "Just turn over. I'll handle everything."

She did as she was told, still murmuring. "I thought you just did that."

He leaned down, covering her hips with large hands, while his lips covered her own. "I don't remember hearing any complaints." His voice went soothing as he spoke and she started as his blunt teeth tugged at her earlobe.

She kept her eyes closed as she countered. "Well, take it easy. I'm still sore from before." She wiggled in protest as his hand went between her legs. "What did I just say?" He gently scolded and she didn't even to see him to know he was smirking.

"I wasn't helping... A-Aidan."

He was inside her before she could have half a mind to complain.

He pulled out, tearing a delighted moan from her throat. "God, you feel amazing." He grunted as he plunged back in.

"Ditto." She moaned her hips instinctively moved to his rhythm, her nails ranking down his back, making him groan gratifyingly into her ear.

He gently circled his hips and she cried out weakly, feeling herself clench around him already. "Aidan."

"It's okay. Just let it go. It's fine." He cooed near her face as he kissed her cheek.

He sped up ever so slight, bringing her right there.

_Oh, here we go again._

"Ahhh... Mmm." She moaned deeply she climaxed.

He kissed her, releasing his own moan into her mouth as he came a few moments later, erupting inside her still spasming innerwalls.

He sighed in her ear and she was briefly reminded that he didn't breathe. "I love you."

She stroked her fingers sluggishly down his broad back. "I love you, too."

...

**A/N: There you go. Not my best, I know it. Not my longest but, I was hit with just this one idea tonight, okay. So, don't be mad. If you are, don't be that mean about it. There will be more soon. I hope.**

**Review!**


	22. More

_Hey guys! Welcome back to my world of oh so wonderful writing! Hope you've enjoyed my story in all it's great glory. It's nearing the end for Aidan and Anna so, we have only a few more chapters left then it's done. I'm glad everyone has stayed on board with this story of love, friendship, and hopefully some humor and thanks for that._

_More Aidan/Anna action in this one! Your welcome!_

_I own nothing._

...

It was late and god knows what time when Anna stumbled out of bed and into her bathroom. She felt achy and more than a little disoriented, blindly searching out for her light switch before finding it, squinting in the lighting invading her eyesight.

She gasped as she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Hickeys lined both sides of her neck, her lips were swollen, and she had major bedhead.

_Ugh... Aidan._

She flinch a little as she sat own on her toilet, the ache between her legs now slightly abated after sleep yet still making it's presence known. Honestly after last night, she was surprised she could walk at all.

Standing back up carefully, she took care of all her needs before moving slowly and quietly through her bedroom as to not wake her bedmate, noting with a wince that she was indeed walking oddly.

_I'm gonna need Advil._

She eyed the man in her bed. The wonderful, gorgeous male specimen that rocked her world last night and not a few hours earlier.

_Speaking of which..._

She looked at her clock.

**5:00 a.m.**

Grateful that she had no classes and that Aidan didn't need to be woken yet for hospital duties, she went to get something to eat at least, wondering if it was normal to feel hungry after sex.

She made her way to the kitchen, searching out her cabinets and cupboards, almost squealing in glee as she found a box of Lucky Charms. _Yummy!_

She groaned slightly as she hopped on her counter.

_Oh, that's right, Advil._

...

Aidan stirred, his arm landing on the other side of the bed, hoping to find ample amounts of soft female to wrap in his arms.

Only to find it... _empty_.

His eyes popped open and yeah, Anna wasn't there.

_Where is she?_

His nostrils flared and his senses became alert.

The scent of her almost immediately invaded him and his whole body tightened in response to the fact that she was still nearby.

Getting out of bed, he put on pants, not bothering with a shirt as he wandered out of the bedroom.

He found her in the kitchen, sitting on top of her counter, leaning against her cupboards while eating quite blissfully dry Lucky Charms straight out of the box, humming happily in oblivion, dressed in a light blue, airy nightgown that went up to her knees, giving him a _nice_ view of some supple thigh as she swung her legs playfully.

_How is it possible that someone can be so hot yet so adorable all at the same time?_

_Jesus._

Before he could say anything, she looked up from her 'breakfast', smiling brightly. "Aidan! Your up!"

He walked to her, grinning. "Yeah. I woke up to find a cetain bed devoid of a certain naked, female presence." He reached her, removing the cereal box from her hands, despite her protests. "Hey! I was eating that-"

He kissed her, shutting her up effectively, wrapping his arms around her small waist, pulling her closer to him, letting her feel his excitement through his pants.

He slid his tongue into the mix, his hands now busying themselves with removing her underwear as he moved his mouth to her neck, sucking her pulse eagerly, making her gasp in delight. "Seriously. Again?"

He moved a hand between her legs, feeling her wetness there. "You certainly don't _feel_ like your complaining." He retorted, spreading her legs further apart and then going to work on the buttons and zipper of his pants.

She moaned in approval as he prodded her with his fingers. "I'm not, just... _oomph_, Aidan!"

He was inside her searing heat before she could choke out another word, gasping as he pulled out and then rammed back in, his dark gaze locking with hers questioningly. When they first had sex last night, he had minded himself to be as gentle and go as slow as he could handle, it being her first time and all but, still blowing her mind all the same. Judging by her reaction after the pain wore off, she had loved it. Now he just wanted to fuck her until she literally couldn't walk... and then some.

But, first, he needed to know it was okay. That she was on board and he wasn't going too far.

She was still getting used to sex and he did not want her to think it was always gonna be like this.

She seemed to understand, grabbing his face and kissing him passionately as he pumped his hips in and out of her, afterward throwing her head back in ecstasy simultaneously baring her throat to him and gripping her counter with white knuckles.

He roughly tilted his hips, getting deeper inside of her, moaning gruffly at her compliance.

And before he knew it, they both screamed their release, her muscles tightening around him and milking him every step of the way as he plummeted inside her core.

Sighing, he leaned against her as she breathed harshly before he scooped her up in his arms in a bridal hold, kissing her lustfully, leading them back into her room.

Oh, he still wasn't finished.

...

**A/N: What can I say? Your welcome and thank you for reading!**

**Review! Review! Review!**


	23. Trivial

...

She was burning up.

No really. Her body felt like it was on fire.

2 hours.

And they hadn't stopped.

Anna let out a wild gasp as Aidan's teeth grazed her nipple, her hips bucking vigorously against him as he thrust deep inside her. He was so deeply nestled and reached so far in her body that she just knew that come tomorrow and maybe the day after that, she was gonna be feeling _this_ in the worst way.

She was gonna feel it as she walked back and forth from the three classes she had the next day. As she sat down for the lunch in the cafeteria. When she went for study group at the library.

Oh, yes. If she was still thinking that the night before and the day after was a dream come true, then the evidence would stick with her for days on end.

Their mouths collided in a ferocious kiss that made the air in her lungs hard to produce. She let out a strangled sound as he slipped a hand between them, a talented finger working her even as he still thrust. Over and over again.

And again.

She yanked herself away from his mouth when she felt the tell-tale tingling at the base of her spine, the feeling growing more and more intense as he brought her to the edge for what felt like the hundredth time.

He was faring no better. His smooth, even strokes became erratic and wild. And he followed her a couple seconds after she reached a blinding release.

Oh, God.

_Oh, God, yes._

...

"How old were you when you were turned?"

Aidan turned his eyes from the ceiling to gaze over at the woman next to him. After their interlude on her kitchen counter, he had brought them back to the bedroom where they went at it for a good solid two hours. Normally, he would have gone longer but, he didn't wanna tire her out just a day after she had lost her virginity to him the night before.

He would show her the delights and variable techniques he had at his disposal. He would just have to take her through the paces little by little. Break her in gently until she got accustomed to their newfound sex life.

Not that she wasn't doing a bang-up job of keeping up with him already. He was quite pleasantly surprised that her eagerness and passion made them well-matched in the bedroom.

He looked at her. She lay half on her side, a thin sheet covering her curves, her beautiful face pressed into her pillow as she gazed at him inquisitively.

"I was 29."

She smiled softly. "29." Then her face scrunched up in the most adorable way. "Wow. That makes you ten years older than me."

He couldn't helped the laugh that escaped him. She already knew about his vampire age, his turning and time with Bishop, the incident with Rebecca, and about the immense guilt he carried with him because the people. The lives he had taken during his many years as a blodd-thirsty animal.

He found it nice that he was still able to laugh and enjoy himself when she would trivial questions about himself.

_"Hey, did you know Jane Austen?"_

_"Were you there when boxer-briefs were coined?"_

_"Was Andy Warhol a douchebag?"_

Or, _"Hey. Ever used a condom before? Is it even needed, like ever?"_

Gathering the sheet around her body, he watched curiously as she hopped out of bed. "Why are you doing that?"

She turned to him. "Doing what?"

"Cover up."

She looked from both sides of her as if there were other people he could be asking that question to before answering slowly. "Because I'm naked."

He deliberately gave her a once over. "I know." If she was going for a good cover-up, the sheet was not doing it's job. He couls still make out the the swell of her breasts and hips through it as well the tiny waist he loved so much.

He chuckled as she blushed at his wandering eyes. "I'm gonna go shower."

He half-heartedly laughed and layed back down, looking to his side again as her head popped out the bathroom door. "You coming?"

Like he needed to be asked twice.

The shower was the longest she'd ever taken.

Just sayin'.

...

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed!**

**Review, please.**


	24. All Glowy

_Hey! I'm back with more for you guys! Hope you haven't missed me too, too much. I'm joking. I know you guys have missed me. I have missed you guys, too!_

_I have a host of people of people to thank for making this fic possible and for giving me a world of support: **Superdani a.k.a Gillian Smith** (for giving me my most enthusiastic reviews; don't think I haven't noticed), **Kit-cat99**, **Mishelle20** (your quite a fan of my smut, so thanks for that!), **GiselleRain**, **sparkie34** (sorry for fustrating you), **chroyste**, **polarmayden**, **Silver Dog Demon**, **Druid Archer** and **breathe-in3**. If I've missed anyone, I apologize. You guys are all great!_

_FYI: This is the second to last chapter (I know. I'm crying on the inside, too)._

_Onward we go!_

_I own nothing (except for... well, you know who)._

...

"Guys! We're here!" Anna yelled out in greeting as she and Aidan walked into the brownstone.

After spending another fantastic night at her apartment, Anna had to seriously pull hair in order to get Aidan to agree to leave the place that had been their 'love nest' for the past two nights. Needless to say, he was reluctant and grumpy when she had suggested they go see their friends (_"Come on! It's Josh and Sally. Haven't you gotten enough sex?"_ Pause. _"Aww... no."_).

She was already sore and it took a great deal of effort to walk on her wobbly legs even after the pain medication she'd taken to soothe the now ferocious throbbing between her thighs.

_Thanks a lot, Aidan._

It took some wrangling but, they finally left after she had to avoid his frisky hands while she was getting dressed.

Not that she fared better anyway. It wasn't easy to watch the muscles move on his flawless body as he pulled on his own clothes but, she, as always, managed.

_I did make him wait for me. Shouldn't that count for something?_

_I thought so._

And of course, there was the realities of both their lives. He had work. She had school. And they both had the friendship of two people who would probably ask a lot of questions about their two night absence.

Josh had been a good sport and very supportive of her relationship with Aidan. He was, after all, the reason they met. Her 'wolfy condition' was the reason they became friends in the first place. He was like the brother she never had and the best friend she never knew she deserved.

And Sally was the sister she _wished_ she had growing up and the best girl friend she could ever hope for. Aside from the obvious, they brought much-needed normality to each other's world. Sally got a female bestie who can actually _see_ her and Anna got a friend who knew about her 'condition' and didn't care.

They were both the best and she was lucky to have them. Her life had taken quite a spill in recent months, obviously.

She became a werewolf (_one hell of a spill, I might add_).

She got two awesome best friends.

And she fell in love. With a vampire.

_God, life is just full of surprises._

"Well, look who decided to join us." Sally's sardonic tone of voice broke into her thoughts and Anna smiled at her friend as she and Josh trailed out of the kitchen together.

Josh took a quick look between her and Aidan's joined hands and blushed beet-red.

_Aw, great, he knows._

Not that she had anything to hide but, it would be nice to not have it broadcasted to her best friend that his roommate had _thoroughly_ de-flowered her two nights before.

And no, she wasn't psychic. Josh was just _that_ easy to read.

"Did you guys have fun?" The question spilled from Josh's mouth and she knew, had he thought before he spoke, the words wouldn't have come out.

But, no. Josh was not a thinker when he was nervous.

And he did seem nervous.

Sally looked at Josh and back at Anna, a look of couriosity on her face. "What's he talking about?"

"Nothing." She almost gritted her teeth when both Aidan and her answered at the same time, causing the spirit to cock an eyebrow suspiciously.

There was a long moment of silence as Sally walked closer and peered into Anna's face. "What have you been doing?"

_Who the fuck is she now, Sherlock Holmes?_

"What are you talking about?"

"You look... different. All _glowy_."

Anna had always thought the whole 'glowing after sex' thing was a myth. Apparently not.

It was another pause before as her ghost friend stepped back, staring them both down until a bright, glaring look of realization swept across her face.

"Oh my God! You guys so totally did it!"

Anna released a groan while, swatting a chuckling Aidan next to her.

_Perfect._

...

**A/N: One more left and that's it. Don't be sad.**

**Reviews, anyone?**


	25. Friends & Love

_What is up, my people? This is it. This is the end. The end of my story, that is. Not the end of me or my writing. You will be getting more from me. I can promise you that. Although, I can honestly tell you that I don't know when this will occur. I tend to write according to the show I'm watching so, God knows when I'll come back. Right now, as I type, I'm watching SyFy's BH marathon and hey! Inspiration._

_You guys have been beyond great and I love how you are all responding to my story. I hope I thanked a good amount of people in my last chapter. If not, again apologies._

_I own nothing (Anna still does live in the guestroom of my brain, though)._

...

"How are you and Aidan doing?"

"Great. We're good."

Long pause.

"How's the sex?"

"Sally!"

"What? I wanna know!"

Anna chuckled as she watched her friends. They'd been hanging out for a good portion of the day and once in a while, asking random questions about her relationship with Aidan. Now she and said vampire had 'sealed the deal', it had been a humorous 20 questions stretching out throughout the last two weeks.

And honestly, it was only a matter of time before they questioned the newfound physical aspect of their relationship.

Which had been going awesome, by the way.

Not two days ago, he had jumped her at the hospital.

And that had come out of nowhere.

She smiled just thinking about it.

...

_She had brought a nicely prepared lunch for she and Josh to eat to save him from the awefulness of hospital food. Something she had found out the hard way during her stay when they first met and had been subjected to strange broccoli and matched potatoes with rubbery chicken and ugh, jello._

_Anyway, she had prepared some nice, tasty BLTs for her and her best friend to eat, which would probably make the entire cafeteria jealous but, whatever._

_They had enjoyed their lunch before Josh left to work again and Anna went looking for Aidan._

_Josh had told her he was probably near the nurse's station ans so, there she went._

_She ignored the odd looks she recieved from the female nurses as she asked about her boyfriend's whereabouts._

_Some looked surprised. Some weirdly pleased. Others just plain pissed._

_It was 15 minutes before she gave up and walked towards the direction of the elevators._

_She was walking to her destination when she was suddenly yanked by strong hands into a dark room._

_She barely had time to get her bearings before she was pressed against a door and a pair of cold lips were pressed against hers._

_She immediately knew who it was as Aidan's familiar feel and smell invaded her._

_There was a slight urgency to the way he moved against her that made her face blush and her knees go weak._

_It was a minute of grappling with zippers and blue uniform before he had her up against a wall in a corner, moving frantically and, as always, deeply inside of her._

_It wasn't the longest time they'd had sex but, it definitely wasn't the least satisfying._

_Afterward, as she stood on wobbly knees and asked what had gotten into him, he had simply said, "I missed you."_

_She almost wanted to make crack at a 'Grey's Anatomy' joke but, decided not to and instead walked out of Suffolk County Hospital with a huge grin on her face._

...

Now, looking at her friends, she played nonchalant and shrugged. "The sex is... you know, it's satisfying." She spoke as if it was also boring although, that was anything but, true.

Sally looked at her with an incredulous expression on her face. "Oh! Come on-"

The slamming of the front door cut off the conversation immediately and all three friends turned to see Aidan walking into the living room and towards the stairs before glancing briefly at his friends and girlfriend.

His eyes immediately landed on Anna and she fought to read his expression. "Hi."

"Hey."

"Can you come meet me upstairs in a few?" He nodded to the stairs before walking up them.

"Sure. Okay." She belatedly responded before turning to her friends with a quizzical expression.

"What was that about?" Sally asked with a look of bemusement written all over her features.

Anna shrugged, getting up from the couch. "Guess I'm gonna go find out."

She headed towards the stairs before turning to the pair. "You know I love you guys, right?"

They turned with smiles on their faces. "Yeah, mom, we love you, too."

She shook her head as she went up the stairs. "Jackasses."

The laughter from her two best friends faded as she walked down the hallway towards Aidan's room.

She'd been there a couple of times and that was before they started having sex so, she really didn't know why she was suddenly nervous.

She got to his door and opened it.

He was lying on his back with one arm over his head and the other across his stomach. She knew what to do. I twas just their routine. He or she would have a bad day and they would comfort each other. She already knew what he needed.

She stood there a moment before closing the door and walking quietly to him, crawling on the bed and laying on stomach as he moved his hands and placed them on her back. It still amazed her how well they fit together like this.

They layed there a few minutes before Aidan broke the comfortable silence. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

THE END.

...

**A/N: Just wanted a nice, peaceful ending to this. Hope you liked it.**

**Review, review, review!**


End file.
